Overview
Lakemount is a two-acre private garden on a hill above Glanmire, and the first thing to know is practical: it is not open. The garden’s own visitor notice says Lakemount is closed to the public and the owners are currently unable to take group bookings. Check that notice for any change before making plans, and please do not turn up at the gate. What follows describes the garden as it has been made and planted, for anyone who wants to know what they might see if it reopens.
Is Lakemount open?
No. At the time of this update the owners say the garden is closed to public visits and group bookings, and no reopening date has been published. The address is Barnavara Hill, Glanmire, a short drive from Cork city centre, but it is a private property. The visit page is the place to look for any change.
History & design
The ground was a fruit-and-chicken farm a century ago, on sandy, acidic soil that took decades of farm manure to enrich. From the 1950s the layout was reimagined by the Cross family – Peggy Cross planted the first windbreak hedges against the Atlantic weather – and her son Brian Cross, one of Ireland’s best-known plantsmen, developed it into the layered garden it is now, balancing formal geometry with cottage-garden planting. New owners have taken Lakemount on and are restoring it, bringing back the fruit trees and the chickens that were here before it became a show garden.
Walking the grounds
The Millennium Pond
The garden’s central feature is a formal pond edged with Liscannor limestone from County Clare. The stone steps and surrounding raised beds are planted with water lilies and irises, while a cast-iron arum lily sculpture anchors the composition. The water reflects the sky and the plantings around it, a calm focal point that shifts with the light through the day.
Cottage-garden arch and herbaceous borders
A woven wicker arch, trained with honeysuckle, clematis and sweet pea, frames the entrance to the main border area. Behind it, the Chatham Island forget-me-not stands out for its deeply lobed foliage. The surrounding beds rotate through seasonal displays of hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris and primulas, while sedums and penstemons hold up the late-summer structure and pull in butterflies.
Orchard and rose garden
An old apple orchard supplies mature shade and spring blossom, a soft backdrop to the more formal plantings. Beside it lies the ‘Rose’ garden, named for Brian’s wife. This section leans into cottage-garden schemes, mixing lupins, poppies, foxgloves and passion flowers with drifts of pink rhododendrons. In autumn, agapanthus, nerines and acers take over the palette.
Sculptures and seating
Small statues are placed through the grounds: a boy with a horn, a cherub beside a bird bath, a smiling clown face, and a cat perched above a dove-filled column. Turquoise wrought-iron benches on slate plinths, alongside terracotta urns and glazed pots, give you regular places to sit and read the layered planting.
Conservatory
A modest conservatory protects tender Mediterranean species from Ireland’s wet winters. Inside you’ll find abutilon, pelargonium, fuchsia, begonia and jasmine, a controlled counterpoint to the seasonal cycles in the main garden.
Planning your visit
Because the garden is private and currently closed, there is nothing to book and no ticket to buy. If it reopens, the owners’ notice is where the arrangements will be set out. In the meantime, bigger public gardens such as Fota or estates such as Bantry House make better plans for a day out in Cork.