We are sponsoring a local roundabout in Limerick City. Here is a rundown of how we implemented this city installation from start to finish.

A few years ago, we got a chance to sponsor the Shannon Bridge roundabout and were given the opportunity to design and plan out an installation for the city circle. We really wanted to make an interesting eye-catching piece and move away from the usual mundane roundabouts you see. With the help of Lisa McKnight Landscape & Garden Designer, we drew up plans to represent a storage unit and cardboard boxes in the form of a box topiary to adorn this space such as below.

We also wanted to plant wildflowers and grasses all around the area too. We first had to plan out where on the roundabout the box topiary designs would be placed so we spent a fun day in the car park of our facility mapping out the roundabout with chalk and making the designs with our cardboard boxes from the packaging shop. We went full-on Mary make-and-do as you can see from below, it had to be done to make the design work

We also had Hawthorn Nurseries & Landscaping involved in the project to actually implement the design and source the plants and bulbs. One of our main ideas for the roundabout was to tap into the biodiversity side of things and have a big importance of native plants. We wanted to have plants that would work with wildlife such as bees and butterflies and with that in mind we sought pollinator-friendly flowers for the centre of the installation. All these flowers were native Irish wildflowers and will start to bloom and grow in the coming months. All around the outside, we planted a selection of wild grasses that looks lovely in contrast to the topiary design.  Below is a sample of the type of wildflowers we wanted planted.

With all this biodiversity planting we were delighted to receive our certificate of participation in the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. This a super initiative run by Biodiversity Ireland and Bord Bia – Irish Food Board encouraging the protection of pollinators in Ireland.

Below are a few more pictures of the roundabout. We would like to thank the Limerick City and county council for developing the roundabout sponsorship scheme. Our aim was to brighten up the city in a small way with this lovely installation and long may it last. We hope you like it.