A Kerry master gardener who won his third gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in London on Monday for his impressive ferns collection has said he is “elated, relieved, and overjoyed” with his huge win.
Billy Alexander from Kells Bay House and Gardens in Cahersiveen claimed the top prize at the world famous show —this time for his largest creation “Wilde Kells Bay Gardens” which features more than 100 species of ferns.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he said he was still “trying to take it all in.”
“I am elated” he said. “When I saw the gold, it just made it so worthwhile.
“You never know what the judges will find fault with until the day. It has been non stop with visitors congratulating me. It is also great to see the Irish who left home in the 60s and 70s, and never went back, coming to see the Irish displays with their children.”
Billy spent nine days preparing his display with his head gardener Grzegorz Zawlocki.
“I feel if I am happy with it, then it usually means everyone else is.
You have to be so serious about your plant selections and the Chelsea show is different, the magnitude is massive — you have to be ready even when you’re not ready, you have to be mentally planning it for a long time in advance. This took around two years.
“My first display was 39sqm in 2018, this display is 120sqm. It’s four times the size of my first display but I don’t think I’ll ever go as big as that if I ever enter again. We packed up a 40ft container last week drove over, using the ferry.
It was very hard work, he said.
“But it is only a microcosm of Kells Bay back home, everything I do is based on the gardens there, I have a primeval forest with a couple of bog pools and ferns and moss.”
Billy Alexander with Joanna Lumley at the famous flower show. Picture: Kells Bay House and Gardens
The father of two, who lives and works alongside his Thai chef wife Penn Alexander, is originally from Dublin. He credits his maternal grandfather for teaching him about plants.
“I was always in the garden with my grandfather Harry Harte Barry, he showed me how to grow strawberries, and I learned about plants.
“My mother Maeve Alexander nee Harte Barry was also a gardener, her family were gardeners.
“I am a hands in plants gardener, I have no formal education I learned everything with my hands, we use no pesticides, or weed killers, it’s all a manual organic process.”
His key advice to anyone trying to help the environment is to “save your rainwater”.
“Collect it from your roof and reuse it, and recycle your plastic plant pots,” he said.