Radharc Landscaping

Radharc Landscaping is an award-winning landscape company based in Connacht providing a range of services including landscape design, consultation, tree and vegetation surveys, and completion of hard & soft landscaping projects. Radharc employs Landscape Architects, Horticulturists, Garden Designers, and Environmental Planners in their offices in Moycullen, as well as retaining the services of ecological advisers and qualified landscape maintenance and construction experts.

Radharc supports and promotes environmental sustainability through its designs and is a certified participant in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan’s, ‘Action to Protect Pollinators.’ A preliminary report was drafted by Radharc Landscaping to identify opportunities to enhance Biodiversity within BSIL site in Galway. This consisted of two Walking Surveys of the Boston Scientific site and a Desktop Survey of the general Ballybrit area to identify the opportunities for improving biodiversity. The report identifies best practices to enhance and manage biodiversity across the BSIL campus.

Report Overview

There is greater wildlife activity and biodiversity in the areas which are further away from buildings, car parks, access roads, hardstands and loading bays, which is to be expected as wildlife generally tends to shy away from many human activities including unexpected loud noise and vehicle movement. In this respect, hedgerow boundaries, grassed backland areas, as well as backlands that have low landscape interventions and are colonising naturally themselves are higher in biodiversity habitat value (food/foraging, shelter, nesting opportunities etc).

To encourage wildlife into other areas of site, more hedge and shrub screening is required to provide privacy and security for the forager. General actions to improve biodiversity across the site have been identified. They have been grouped in terms of low, low-to-moderate, moderate-to-high and higher costs. While the movement away from the intensive use glyphosate pesticide is welcome from a biodiversity point of view, it does mean having to introduce more weed-reducing bark mulches on site or more labour hours through manual weeding activities.

Judges’ Comments: 

“Great to see a client (Boston Scientific) embracing an ecological scheme and a landscape contractor being able to deliver it and articulate it for the benefit of all involved. Radharc have developed the site superbly over the years from a traditional landscape space to one which generously and sensitively  addresses biodiversity while addressing the importance of area for the staff. “

“A mix of different landscape types all maintained to a high standard.”