Inside Hunting Brook Gardens, Co. Wicklow
Nestled in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains just outside of Dublin City is one of the largest and most stunning private collection of plants and flora in Ireland. Hunting Brook Gardens is the work of Jimi Blake, a prolific horticulturist and educator who has developed an extraordinary curation of plantlife and distinctive gardens throughout his property.
Hunting Brook consists of unique individual gardens at the top of the property; the Ring Fort space; the Valley, a “Tolkienesque beauty” of a forest which descends down below the Gardens and is oriented at its base around a babbling creek (the Hunting Brook); and the Meadow, situated at the other end of the Valley, a wide open picturesque bluff strewn with daisies and wildflowers and peaceful cows peering over from the neighbouring property.
Jimi and Noel Kingsbury are also the authors of a recent book on Hunting Brook, A Beautiful Obsession (2019), which tells the story of the gardens, offers resources and information on horticulture, and features gorgeous photography and illustrative elements.
Below are collected original photos from personal trips to Hunting Brook Gardens, from October 2019 to June 2020. All images by Clara Dudley, except where noted.
