Navan man's garden wins gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show

Navan man Mike McMahon has described as "surreal", the experience of exhibiting a garden he designed and constructed along with his wife Jewlsy Matthews at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show this week.

Not only was Mike and Jewlsy's garden selected the first time they applied for Chelsea, but they come away with a gold medal and their garden was one of just three that King Charles chose to view during his visit to the show.

"It was one of the most surreal and best experiences of my life. It was very emotional as well as my wife's mother passed away last September but not before we found out we got Chelsea so I dedicated the medal to her," said Mike.

He told how on the first day of the show, their jungle-themed balcony garden was shown by 40 media outlets all over the world.

"The people who run the show have been amazing and have asked us back to do another garden and told us that our garden is unique and sustainable and exactly what they are looking for."

A proud Navan man, Mike, who runs a successful architect business in London, said he was delighted to meet several visitors from Navan during the week, including a family from Beechmount who were neighbours before the McMahon family moved to Athlumney.

Mike and Jewlsy spent 10 days building their junglette balcony garden, one of ten gardens exhibited in the balcony and container section. They did all the work themselves and used sustainable materials throughout, with the planting inspired by Jewlsy's family's native India.

"There were ten gardens in total in our section and we spent ten days building the garden ourselves. We became like one big family of contractors and designers who helped each other if you were missing a ladder or anything.

"It reminded me of my childhood growing up in Navan in Beechmount, which was exactly the same. We had an amazing next door neighbour and friend, Olive Reilly, who would always put a pint of milk and sausages in our fridge for when we got home from holidays.

" I am an incredibly proud Navan man and amazed that the King selected our garden as one of three to visit."

As well as meeting King Charles and Camilla, they also met Princess Eugenie and Princess Ann as well as a host of celebrities including Alan Titchmarsh, Monty Don and BBC presenters Jermain Jenas and Alex Jones of the One Show.

Mike was also invited to the Irish Embassy to meet the Irish ambassador and his wife and to give a talk.

A son of Mary and Michael McMahon from Athlumney, Mike has been living in London since 2007 and opened his own practice with his wife Jewlsy Mathews just 14 months ago.

Over the years Mike, who has a keen interest in nature and horticulture, has visited Chelsea many times and inspired by their own balconies at their home in Kings Cross, the couple decided to enter a balcony garden in the UK's most high profile flower and garden show and were thrilled to be accepted for the show.

Their Chelsea garden features an "explosion of hardy tropical planting to mirror the four structural layers of the jungle", a seating area cocooned by cascading flora, a small pond, birds nests, bat boxes and a striking folded back wall crafted from recycled paper.

Sustainability is hugely important to Mike and Jewlsy in their designs and they crafted recycled paper into the durable back wall, decking, and furniture, while the pots were made from reclaimed containers.

After the show the oval-shaped decking will be transformed into dining and coffee tables, ensuring a prolonged, multi-faceted life and the garden will be relocated to a new home.

The Chelsea Flower Show continues until tomorrow, 25th May.