An Interview with Robert Moore, Show Garden Designer

Landscape designer, Robert Moore, returns to this year’s Bord Bia Bloom with his third show garden, this time for Tusla Fostering. We caught up with him to find out what’s in store.

Tell us a little about your garden this year. 

The garden is an ode to foster children and the families that care for them. I have worked on many social show gardens over the years at Bord Bia Bloom and I always find them so inspiring. This year is no exception and I have been privileged to meet some amazing children and incredible foster carers over the last few months.  

What I have learned is that fostering is all about love: the love that foster carers offer children and the beautiful relationships that the children build with their foster families. And so in essence, this garden is also about love. It’s about creating a safe space where children can be children, where they can play, where they can work through their trauma, where they can engage with the sensory aspects of nature, and where they can feel loved. 

It’s early days, but can you share any details of your design? 

It is going to be a fun garden, with space to shelter and play. There will be a floating hammock, a glass dome shelter, and we’re working on creating a beautiful brass sculpture made with casts of some of the foster children’s hands.  

The planting and structures are designed to reflect the journey that foster children and carers take together. Some foster children may not have had the easiest start in life but we want to show that together with their foster families, they can come through the journey full of love, hope and optimism. Our wish is that the garden, and the experiences that foster children and carers will share at Bloom, will inspire others to consider fostering in future. 

What do you have planned for the garden after Bloom? 

The organisers of Bloom always encourage us to repurpose as much of the gardens as possible after the festival, which is wonderful as not only is it more sustainable for the environment, it also means that the garden can live on and continue to give enjoyment long after Bloom closes.  

Last year, we moved the ‘Catching Cancer Early’ show garden that I designed for the Marie Keating Foundation to the Recovery Haven in Tralee. This year, we will transport the plants used within the garden to a number of foster families across the country who have supported us on this journey. Our goal is to capture the essence of the garden through a selection of the plants and shrubs so that the families can continue to benefit from a little slice of Bloom at home. 

Tusla Fostering is sponsoring a show garden at Bord Bia Bloom for a second time this June bank holiday weekend. To stay up-to-date with news on the show gardens, and the many other fun aspects of Bloom, please stay tuned to our social channels @BordBiaBloom. Tickets to this year’s festival are available here.