Caring for Strokestown Park’s historic gardens means nurturing their biodiversity, as well as respecting their rich history.
Our dedicated team of gardening staff and volunteers at Strokestown Park work to protect and enhance the biodiversity that flourishes in the formal and kitchen gardens, as well as Strokestown Park’s rich woodlands.
A focus on biodiversity is also key to the educational work we carry out with visiting students of all ages, and the efforts of our volunteer team, who help us with every aspect of conserving and developing our outdoor spaces.
Helping Strokestown Park to bloom
A rich variety of garden settings
The shelter of our walled gardens and the shade of our woodlands provide perfect homes for some of the rare plant varieties that flourish at Strokestown Park.
And our sunny herbaceous border (one of the longest in Ireland), fernery, rose garden, pergola and wildflower garden attract a rich array of butterflies and wildlife.
Conserving and creating habitats
By letting the pond in Strokestown Park’s walled gardens grow a little wild, we have been able to attract a family of moorhens.
And by letting plants grow where they want to in the stone walls, we’re letting nature thrive without getting in the way!
Balancing tradition and innovation
A garden is always a living thing, and the plants and gardens here are home to many different types of wildlife, which flourish in habitats created across the Estate over the centuries. For example, the woodlands at Strokestown Park contain many beech and oak trees planted by Thomas Mahon over 300 years ago.
The planting that brings Strokestown Park’s gardens to life has always been shaped by its location and climate as well as by garden design and trends, We make our decisions about planting and structural changes in ways that carefully balance respect for the past with our commitment to enhancing Strokestown Park’s biodiversity.
Strokestown Park’s gardens represent an important part of Ireland’s social, cultural and environmental heritage, and we are taking care of them so that they can enjoyed now and by future generations. As open green spaces, Strokestown Park’s woodland gardens are also an important health and wellbeing asset for the local community whose members use them for walks and park runs.
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Keep up to date with news and events at Strokestown Park House, Gardens & National Famine Museum, and across our sister properties, when you sign up to the Irish Heritage Trust’s email newsletter.
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