Walk and Talk with Rosie Maye at Barrow Experience Gardens

Join Irish Garden Magazine columnist Rosie Maye, also known as The Insomniac Gardener, for a special Walk and Talk through the award-winning Barrow Experience Gardens at BEAM Services, Bagenalstown, County Carlow.

This inspiring event offers garden lovers a chance to explore a truly unique series of ten interconnecting gardens, each telling its own story and reflecting the rich history, folklore and heritage of the Barrow Valley. Set on a picturesque and peaceful site that borders the canal off the River Barrow, the gardens form part of BEAM Services, a training centre for people with disabilities, and are a testament to creativity, community and inclusion.

The ten gardens that form the Barrow Experience are the Mindfulness Garden, French Garden, Convent Garden, Monastic Courtyard, Potager Garden, Druids’ Wood, Dinn Righ, Reflective Garden, Cooperation Garden and the Water Garden.

As Rosie introduces each garden she’ll share practical tips on planting, composting, seasonal colour, garden structure, pollinator-friendly choices and how to bring both beauty and purpose into your own green space—whether large or small. Her down-to-earth advice makes this a great event for gardeners of all levels.

Rosie has been gardening since the age of four alongside her mother who nurtured her lifelong passion for all things garden related. She studied tourism in college and went on to work in Aer Lingus for sixteen years travelling the world. Rosie gardened in every home she lived in, but it was in her present home in County Meath that she realised her dream of having a big garden. She writes about her garden journey on her FB, Instagram and blog called the Insomniac Gardener. Rosie is a columnist for the Irish Garden Magazine and is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio Ulster’s Gardeners corner. Rosie gives lectures to garden clubs and is garden advisor to the Ledwidge Cottage Museum in Slane. Her own garden in Slane is open for groups by appointment.