https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W01gdjuMRBc

The Gardens  
Our Gardens can be viewed daily with group evening tours available upon request.
 
 

Celtic Walk
The garden is entered by the Celtic Walk, which is 100 metres long and gets its name from the heavily planted Yew trees which border each garden. A distinctive feature at the entrance to the walk is some fine examples of Carlow Fence. This Celtic Walk forms the main axis of the Sensory Gardens and all gardens may be accessed from it.
 
 

Interactive GamesGarden A paved area has been laid out in chequered form to represent either a giant draughts board or a chessboard. Visitors can represent the chessmen themselves or large size pieces can be supplied. Giant tables carved from Carlow limestone provide areas for playing giant Jenga and Noughts & Crosses. The garden also incorporates a lawn area for playing Boules and Croquet, a summer house and picnic tables
 
 
Formal Rose Garden This kind of garden is always a great attraction throughout the flowering season. Formal beds are laid out in half moon shapes with interconnecting gravel areas. Box hedging encloses the roses and central in the garden is an analemma (similar to a sundial). In Spring the garden takes on a new focus with 8,000 daffodils – a spectacular site in full bloom. Check our main page for Daffodil Week Dates.

 
 
 
The Water & WoodlandGarden This amazing garden consists of a large lily and fishpond fed by Carlow’s first waterfall, which is completely accessible -in fact we dare you to walk past and resist running your hands through the water. A balustraded viewing area projects over the water and is complemented by a pavilion for shelter during our inclement Irish summers.
 
 
The MediterraneanGarden The paving here represents a large dramatic Sun, an arrangement of large and small terracotta containers planted with an amazing selection of exotic plants. At the end of the garden, you will find a wall water feature mounted in limestone, the water flows from the stainless steel spouts and disappears into a cobbled trough.
 
 
The FiveSensesGarden
This garden has been designed and stocked by Rachel Doyle of Arboretum. A wooden bridge spans two quirky ear shaped ponds. Lots of vegetables, fruit and herbs are available to taste and rustling grasses add to the audio experience. However the most stunning feature of this garden is the Kugal – one ton of pink marble floating on a cushion of water. This is the biggest water feature of its type in Ireland.
 
  19/2016 MEMORIAL GARDENThis garden is surrounded and sheltered by a living wall of bamboo and commemorates 1916/2016.  A simple layout with a distinctive limestone carving displaying the signatures of the 1916 proclamation.  An eternal flame sprouts out from the centre of the sculpture.  There is a reflective circular pond in the centre of the garden which is encased in an oval shaped lawn area.  The opposite corners of the garden have beautifully carved limestone seats set on 100 year old limestone paving.  There are seven trees planted in memory of the martyrs.
 
 
The Circle of Life
Created by award winning Gold Medalist Elma Fenton this garden compliments the wondeful vision and foresight of Delta. The “Circle of Life” is a garden and a gathering and social space foremost. This ethos gives visitors an opportunity for a meeting place, lots of conversation and a chance to sit back and relax. Dancing rods with glass sculptures hand blown by duiske play with light during the day and night, while a simple yet strong planting structure has significant tree’s planted with flowering ochre grasses and under planted with deep muscaris armeniacum (grape hyancinth). Elma has truly created a garden with a strong sense of arrival, a garden which truely evokes emotion.
 
 
SculptureGarden The idea behind this garden is that sculpture will be rotated on a regular basis. The entrance to this garden is dominated by two limestone sculptures carved in situ, organic shapes reminiscent of Ying and Yang. To the side of the SculptureGarden is the PeaceGarden. Funding for this project came from the Irish America Fund, Causeway and Oakley Housing Association. In cooperation with our partners from Leeds College of Technology, this garden has been designed to include raised beds filled with herbs, a pergola with stone bench for fruit tasting and a millstone water feature
 
 
The WillowGarden The Living Willow Garden (Salix) is an extremely diverse garden. Here you will find garden furniture that is fun, growing and has a rustic feel. A collection of arches and pergola and seating fit for a King and Queen acts as a barrier to limit noise and provides its own pleasant rusthincy (write noise)
Donations of an old pump and trough add to the tranquil atmosphere. A huge variety of aphids and insects are attracted to willow, nectar and pollen for the bees in early in the year when other sources are limited. The Willow Garden is a very popular for wedding photos also.
 
 
The Stolen ChildGarden The Delta Centre is indebted to the creativity of Mary Reynolds for this natural wonderland. This garden is an example of a new approach to gardening. Here, the land is allowed to be full and lush with plants that are seen as weeds in a modem garden setting. Using wild plants here in a structured and simple way shows us the possibilities of their subtle beauty and the depth of atmosphere created by a planting scheme that is living on so many more levels than a herbaceous border. Scattered throughout the gardens, you will see some unique tree sculptures by Martin Monks, commissioned by Carlow County Council and on loan to Delta.