Sustainability Highlights
- Family-owned garden and lifestyle business founded in County Carlow in 1977
- Operating across three locations: Leighlinbridge, Kilquade and Dublin
- Winner of Retail Excellence Ireland Sustainable Retailer of the Year 2024-25
- Strong commitment to supporting Irish growers and local suppliers
- Active re-engagement with Irish nurseries and local plant producers
- Much café baking done on site using locally sourced ingredients
- Arboretum Kilquade redeveloped with renewable energy, efficient heating and LED lighting
- Rainwater harvesting system in place at Kilquade, with plans to extend to Leighlinbridge
- Learnings from Kilquade informing sustainability improvements across the wider business
- Active role in the Carlow Garden Festival through talks, events and public engagement
Growing With Purpose
Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven has been part of Ireland’s gardening landscape for nearly fifty years. Founded in County Carlow in 1977 by horticulturist Rachel Doyle, the family business has grown from its Leighlinbridge roots into a multi-site enterprise with locations in Carlow, Wicklow and Dublin. Throughout that growth, a strong connection to plants, people and place has remained central.
Sustainability has become an increasingly visible and deliberate part of how Arboretum operates. As a large garden and lifestyle retailer, the business recognises the responsibility that comes with scale, not just in what it sells, but in how it sources, builds, uses energy and engages with customers and staff. This approach was recognised nationally when Arboretum was named Sustainable Retailer of the Year by Retail Excellence Ireland, an award that reflected both long-standing practices and more recent investment.
Sourcing, Supply and Local Connections
Supporting Irish growers and producers has long been part of Arboretum’s ethos, and in recent years this commitment has been actively strengthened again. The team has been re-engaging with Irish nurseries across the country, rebuilding relationships and prioritising locally grown stock wherever possible, while remaining realistic about the global nature of modern plant supply chains.
This focus on sourcing extends to Arboretum’s food offering. Much of the baking across its cafés happens on site, with a strong emphasis on local suppliers and ingredient provenance. Helping customers understand where plants and food come from, and the realities behind those journeys, is seen as an important part of Arboretum’s role as a trusted horticultural business.
Investment, Innovation and Learning
Recent redevelopment at Arboretum Kilquade has been a major milestone in the business’s sustainability journey. Designed as a highly efficient, future-focused store, it incorporates renewable energy generation, energy-efficient heating, LED lighting and rainwater harvesting. Starting with a clean slate allowed Arboretum to test what is possible when sustainability is built in from the outset.
The success of Kilquade, both operationally and commercially, has created momentum across the wider business. Learnings from the site are now informing plans for Leighlinbridge and beyond, with strong staff engagement and a growing sense of shared pride in progress made. Rather than seeing sustainability as a one-off project, Arboretum views it as an ongoing process of improvement.
Sharing Knowledge
Arboretum plays an active role in the Carlow Garden Festival, using the platform to host talks and events that explore plants, gardening and sustainability in ways that are accessible and engaging. There is ambition to build further on this educational role through collaboration with schools, colleges and visiting speakers.
Looking Ahead
Arboretum’s focus is on scaling what works: strengthening waste practices, expanding renewable infrastructure, improving water management and becoming clearer and more confident in how its sustainability journey is communicated. As a family business moving into its next generation, Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven continues to invest in practical solutions that support the long-term health of the business, its people and the places it operates in.
Managers and owners across the Carlow Garden Trail, of which Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven, is a member, have completed an accredited Level 6 Certificate in Sustainable Destination Practice with Munster Technological University. As part of the programme, participants completed independent assessments of their current practice and developed future-focused Sustainability Action Plans. Together, they share a commitment to progressing their sustainability journey in a practical, collaborative and accountable way. Their shared intention is to offer welcoming visitor experiences that support the long-term wellbeing of Carlow’s people, heritage and natural environment.
