User:Sarahwrites/sandbox/Mary Reynolds (landscape designer)

For Irish politician, see Mary Reynolds. For the American baseball player, see Mary Reynolds (baseball)''. For philanthropist see'' Mary Reynolds Babcock.

Mary Reynolds (landscape designer) is an Irish landscape designer, author, blogger and public activist, known for being the youngest contestant to win the Chelsea Flower Show. She currently works as a gardener and environmentalist, and published her first book The Garden Awakening in 2016. Her career as a landscape designer and latter accomplishments inspired the biographical drama Dare to Be Wild (2016).

Early life
Reynolds was raised on a farm in Wexford, Ireland with her parents and five siblings, of which she is the youngest. Her father, Séan Reynolds, worked as a soil scientist, while her mother, Teresa, worked as a full-time teacher. In her personal anecdotes, Reynolds claims to have developed her fascination with nature at a young age, often referencing a childhood memory in which she became lost on the family farm and felt the plants around her “''leaning towards me […] fighting for my attention. They wanted me to know that they were part of my family.''” Reynolds studied landscape design at University College Dublin, graduating with a degree in Landscape Horticulture to pursue a career in landscape design.

2002 Chelsea Flower Show
Reynolds design entry for the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show was delivered to RHS officials wrapped in mint leaves. An excerpt from the text reads; “People travel the world over to visit untouched places of natural beauty, yet modern gardens pay little heed to the simplicity and beauty of these environments.” All contestants were required to provide evidence of a ₤150,000 sponsorship to fund their garden. While Reynolds provided the paperwork and proof of sponsorship, she later confessed; "It was very carefully worded so no actual amount was mentioned; [my sponsors] gave me a Euro, so it wasn’t a complete fib." She later secured sufficient sponsorship to construct her garden.

Reynolds design ‘Tearmann sí – A Celtic Sanctuary’ was awarded a gold medal, and gained public acclaim nationwide. The installation featured a moon-gate archway, leading down a path to four stone Druid thrones surrounding a fire-bowl placed over a pond. The garden was engulfed by traditional stone dry-walls, and supported over 500 native Irish plants, such as hawthorns.

Landscape Design
Reynolds designs often feature:


 * Spiralling stone walls in the style of the Fibonacci sequence.
 * Unkempt native flowers and wildlife, often referred to as forest gardening.
 * Stone sculptures in the style of traditional Celtic constructions; obelisks, Druid throne.

Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
Following her success at the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show, Reynolds was approached by the British government to design a garden for the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Reynolds stated the design was inspired by W. B. Yeats poem "The Stolen Child", and featured a large stone sculpture of a sleeping faerie.

Delta Sensory Gardens: Stolen Child Garden
Following her success at the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show, Reynolds was commissioned to design a garden at the Delta Sensory Gardens, within the Delta Centre in Carlow, Ireland. The garden mimics that at the Royal Kew, as it also features a stone faerie, covered in moss, surrounded by a variety of native Irish fauna. The garden also features some topiary sculpture by Irish gardener Martin Monks.

Brigit's Garden: Gairdin Bhride
Brigit's Garden is located in Galway, Ireland. The garden was designed by Mary Reynolds, under the commission of its founder Jenny Beale. Beale requested the design feature four central gardens, each inspired by the seasonal Celtic festivals of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasa. Each garden features a sculpture, commissioned by Beale, and created by local artists. A limestone wall windes through the whole garden, with the Lughnasa garden featuring circles of limestone obelisks.

New Ross Library Park
The New Ross Library Park is located in Wexford, Ireland. The park is inspired by Irish mythology and historical writings, and features a Clog Mór Amphitheatre and a sundial. The trees planted at the park correlate with the Ogham alphabet that is displayed on a stone walkway.

Other Projects and Commissions

 * Cornwall Seaside Garden at the Camel Quarry House in Cornwall, England: designed a terraced spiralled stone-wall.
 * Private garden in Dublin, Ireland: features a spiralled cobbled pathway.
 * Celtic Gardens at the Monart Destination Spa in Wexford, Ireland: features stone bridges and a terraced waterfall.
 * The Convent Gardens and The Tree Of Life Garden at the Díseart Visitor Centre in Kerry, Ireland.

The Garden Awakening: Designs to Nurture the Land and Ourselves (2016)
Reynolds first publication is a instructional memoir in which she promotes sustainable horticultural practice through “forest gardening”, while also detailing her spiritual connection to the Irish landscape through the terms and symbols of Celtic paganism. The book features illustrations by artist Ruth Evans, alongside drawings and architectural sketches by Reynolds.

The publication was publicly endorsed by fellow activist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, who stated the book helped guide readers to be "in tune with nature" and give their gardens a "sense of home". Many other public activists shared their support of Reynold's writing, including Sir Tim Smit, Co-Founder of the Eden Project; and James Alexander-Sinclair, judge and council member of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Celtic paganism
In both her writings and interviews, Reynolds often refers to her Celtic heritage in regards to the magic and energies found in nature. She also makes use of traditional Celtic symbols and folklore in her landscape designs; such as Druid thrones, obelisks and her sleeping faerie sculpture at the Delta Sensory Garden. In April 2019, she made the following statements on the Cultivating Place podcast in regards to her experiences in nature;"'You’re very lucky if you’ve got land to work with because you’ve basically got a big magic pot that’s like a universal post box that you can send your wishes and intentions out from [..] it’s like a magnifying glass for all those intentions and wishes you have - it’s like you’re knitting or weaving a magic spell in this land that you live in and that by allowing and supporting the land to become healed [...] and create a really magical and powerful connection.'"

Environmentalism
Reynolds is an active figure in the Irish Environmentalism community, acknowledged for her efforts in promoting sustainable living through publicly available interviews and workshops. In 2017 she worked as a course instructor at the Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford, and her efforts focussing on restoring the land to its natural, wild state. She has been interviewed by international activist communities and podcasts, often in correlation to her involvement in WeAreTheArk.org.

WeAreTheArk.org
We Are The Ark was conceptualised by Reynolds in 2018 with the aim of creating international environmental activism in regards to sustainable gardening. She was spurned to start the trend when observing local fauna leaving a site being used for development. The site directs participants to build a natural haven in which native plants and fauna is allowed to flourish in a self-sustaining environment. Reynolds continually promotes the movement through her social media.

In Media
Reynolds has appeared in the following online podcasts and tele-seminar;


 * Cultivating Place: Episode 166: Daring To Be Wild - We ARE The Ark - With Irish Plantswoman, Mary Reynolds; from April 26th 2019.
 * The Irish Times Róisin Meets: Mary Reynolds, award-winning gardener; from May 2016.
 * Organisation of Nature Evolutionaries: Remembering Our Roles as Guardians of Our Land; from January 20th 2019.
 * Thin Places Travel Podcast: Episode 10: Awaken the Land with Mary Reynolds; from April 21st 2018.
 * Urban Farm: Episode 341: Mary Reynolds on Care of Earth, Food and Nature; from April 3rd 2018.
 * Farm On Podcast: Episode 20: Rebuilding Shattered Hearts with Mary Reynolds; from November 2017.
 * Unclassified Woman: Episode 53: The Garden Awakening with Mary Reynolds; from November 2017.
 * Being Boss: Episode 120: Nurture Your Land (And Yourself) With Mary Reynolds; from April 18th 2017.

In November 2016 Reynolds held a seminar at the TEDxWexford conference. Her presentation was titled "The Garden Awakening" a featured processes of garden design and planning as further detailed in her publication, released earlier that same year.

Dare to be Wild (2016)
The feature-length film premiered on March 2015 at the Jamerson International Film Festival in Dublin. It features actors Emma Greenwell and Tom Hughes. The film is a biographical drama of Reynolds life leading up to a during the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show, and features scenes and sets that were recreated from photos, including a full physical re-installation of Reynolds award-winning Celtic Sanctuary. It is directed by environmentalist Vivienne De Courcy, who was inspired to create the film after she and Reynolds became friends following a garden design commission. De Courcy commented on the film following its release; "I guess what I really wanted was for people to feel the beauty of wild nature. For me wild nature is the star of the film and people do feel that."

Personal life
Reynolds currently lives as a single parent on a 5-acre property in her hometown Wexford with her two children, Ferdia, 12, and Ruby, 10.

She publicly acknowledges to have had a brief relationship with Christy Collard, a green build architect who assisted Reynolds in creating her award-winning Celtic Sanctuary. Reynolds was eager for his assistance in her design, and so followed Collard to his reforestation project in Nigeria, resulting in a brief romance that was greatly exaggerated in the biopic Dare to be Wild.