Diarmuid Gavin

Diarmuid Gavin is a Garden Designer who was born on 10 May 1964 in London.

Born to Irish parents Joan and Jack he was brought up in Dublin, Ireland from one month old. His father John died in 2011. Diarmuid was the second oldest of 5 children, 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

Tragedy struck at a young age in his family in 1971, when aged just 6 he witnessed  his younger 5 year old brother Conor being killed by a car on the way to school.

Following this he became a shy and lonely, withdrawn child in a family that was suffering from this terrible loss. . 

He would build dens with his sisters and started his own garden on some waste land after shunning his parents conventional suburban garden style.

Diarmuid grew into a socially shy adult, a dreamer and deep thinker and his loss made him very close to his family and the importance of the family.

He was not academic and was happy to leave school with just a few qualifications.




After working for a Garden Centre and Florist Diarmuid studied Amenity Horticulture at the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin.

He then worked as a gardener with his own business Gardens by Design and struggled to make ends meet.




Diarmuid potential to be on the television was spotted in 1995 at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show following an interview with Alan Titchmarsh.

In 1996 Diarmuid was to start his TV gardener career on Homefront a makeover show with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Anne Mckevitt.

Homefront in the Garden was hosted by Teresa Shaw and also featured Kevin McCloud.

A string of gardening programmes which was then followed by appearances on chat shows, game shows, reality television and even Strictly Come Dancing and Splash.

Diarmuid after a break from appearing on our Televisions as a Gardener / Garden Designer recently appeared on Channel 5 Garden competition The Great Gardening Challenge.

He has a new programme on Irish Television Gardening Together with Diarmuid Gavin starting in July 2020 on BBC Northern Ireland made during the Covid-19 Lockdown.

In 2021 Diarmuid became the Presenter of a new type of garden makeover show Filthy Garden SOS which saw Diarmuid along with Danny Clarke and Penny Lamb turn over run and derelict gardens into easy manageable dream gardens with the help of the homeowner.

As well as writing several books, Diarmuid also writes gardening columns for newspapers and magazines.

Diarmuid lives Co Wicklow with his wife Justine whom he married in 1995 after he they met when he was working in her parents garden. They have a teenage daughter Eppie, who has absolutely no interest in gardening.




Royal Dublin Society
Gold 
Gold

RHS Chelsea Flower Show
1995 - Bronze
1996

2004
Silver-gilt

2007
Westland Garden - Silver-Gilt

2011
Irish Sky Garden - Gold

2012
Magical Tower Garden

2016
Harrods British Eccentric Garden

Diarmuid Gavin Television Programmes

1996
Homefront

1997 - 2000
Homefront in the Garden

1999
The Answer Lies in the Soil

2000
Real Rakeovers

2000
RHS Chelsea Flower Show

2001
Planet Patio

2004
Art of the Garden

2004
Gardens Through Time

2007
Gardeners' World

2011
I Want a Garden

2014
Great British Garden Revival

2017
Greatest Gardens

2019
The Great Gardening Challenge

2020

Gardening Together with Diarmuid Gavin

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

2021

Filthy Garden SOS

Episode 1  Amber and Shona from Bangor

Episode 2  Keith & Darren from Stockport

Episode 3 Michael & Becky from Seaham

Episode 4 Olwyn & Ryan from White City, West London

Episode 5  Andy, Kirsten, Theo & Arthur from Horsforth, Yorkshire

Diarmuid Gavin Books

2000
Homefront in the Garden

2001
Homefront Inside Out
With Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

2001
Planet Patio

2002
Big Ideas from Homefront in the Garden

2003
Outer Spaces

2004
Design Your Garden
with Richard Lee

2004
Gardens through time: Celebrate 200 Years of Gardening with the RHS
With Jane Owen

2007
Outdoors
With Sir Terence Conran

2009
Planting: The Planting Design Book for the Twenty-First Century
With Sir Terence Conran

2016
The Extra Room

Autobiography
2010
How the Boy Next Door Turned Out.


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