Ballymaloe Cookery School Gardens

Among the tall trees and beech hedges of an old garden a series of new organic gardens is being created on an ambitious scale by renowned cook Darina Allen.

Several of these compartments are appropriately on a culinary theme. There is an elegant potager or vegetable garden laid out on a strict geometric pattern and colourful with many exotic vegetables. A formal fruit garden has apples, pears, plums, peaches, almonds, figs and cherries, many trained on arches, as well as soft fruit. The herb garden is a delightful surprise, a great parterre of gravel and precisely shaped box-edged beds enclosing an array of culinary and medicinal plants. Beyond, a wide lawn with specimen trees and shrubs leads to a small lake. In the old orchard extensive herbaceous borders have been planted leading up to the Shell House. A Celtic Maze in Yew has recently been planted.

Situated	Shanagarry is signposted in Castlemartyr on the Cork/Waterford road N25
Open	April - September Daily: 11.00-18.00
Admission	€6.00
Facilities	Toilets, Guided Tours, Garden Shop, Limited Wheelchair Access
Contact	Mrs Darina Allen Ballymaloe Cookery School & Gardens, Shanagarry, Midleton, Co. Cork Tel: +353 21 4646785 Fax: +353 21 4646909 Web Site:http://www.cookingisfun.ie