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Peadar’s children Brendan and Sophie admiring the flowers, as they stand in front of the substantial tree nursery in Kildorrery for the Irish Tree Centre.

From a very young age, Peadar Collins of the Irish Tree Centre in Kildorrery, had a keen interest in plants and trees and this passion has been the guiding source for his business since 1996.

He knew that it was always something he wanted to pursue as a career and he studied for three years in the Salesian College of Horticulture in Meath.

"I like the idea that if I come up with something, I can make it happen and when you start your own business, you take the good with the bad, the success with the losses," Peadar said.

Peadar's father was a vegetable grower and he would have given him the foundations to set up his own business, and he would have been a big inspiration, as many of the same principles apply to vegetable growing and tree nurseries, but there is more scope for creativity with the trees.

Peadar told The Avondhu that starting out was very difficult, because there weren't many people in this line of business and it was a very new idea at the time. He added that while the boom was very good for business, it also exposed the challenges out there and let him see what the Irish Tree Centre was capable of doing.

After the boom, Peadar was left with a big challenge, as he had to figure out how to stay in business, combat a drop in sales and expand at the same time.

"We found this avenue through exports and we now export to Holland, Germany, Russia and England and all of the trees are Irish and grown in Kildorrery," he said. It's a lovely thought to know that a little bit of Kildorrery has taken root and is thriving in a different part of the globe.

Another big element of the business, is in building and designing gardens for people. They are currently working on large gardens in Howth and Belfast and have also been asked to do one in Belgium.

Last year, Peadar also came on board with Kildorrery NS, when he donated a tree for Leah O'Flynn to plant on behalf of the sixth class students and he said that this is something he would like to do with other schools, if they were interested.

"She planted that tree to mark her time in the school and the Irish Tree Centre will donate a tree every year, so that the school will, in time, have their own collection of unusual trees. The tree is the legacy of that class and it will continue to live on. When people plant trees, it gives them a sense of belonging," Peadar said. Planting a tree is like being rooted into the community and in years to come these students will come back to the school as adults and reflect on their time at school by exploring the memories that the tree they planted will evoke.

Peadar does a lot of travelling and said that travelling is a way of educating himself and finding new trees, so that he can continue to push the boundaries in Kildorrery and extend the learning curve.

A lecturer once told Peadar, that if you can make your hobby your work, you would never have to work again and that is something he has always believed, as the business has always been his passion.

"It's about creating something and the beauty of the trees and what they can do," he said.

For the future, Peadar said that he will continue to serve the Irish market, with 50% of the business concentrating on exports. He said that the existence of the business is thanks to the good will of the customers and as a way of giving back, the Irish Tree Centre transformed the Kildorrery Road roundabout in Mitchelstown into a landscaped haven, divided into segments so that one section will always bring colour and vibrancy to the roundabout, no matter what season it is. They sponsored the entire cost of the roundabout, carried out the work and will look after the maintenance.

Explaining the roundabout design, Peadar said that the circular frame is made up of pleached limes, surrounded by five segments. The first of these to flower will be in the spring, the amelanchier lamarackii (snowy mespil) , then the copper beech trees sculpted into a pyramid shape will bring red colours into summer, the Himalayan birch will have a white bark in the winter, while the liquid amber worplesdon will bring a burst of colour in the autumn and the ornamental pear chanticleer will keep their leaves almost until Christmas, giving vibrant colours in late autumn and into the spring.

There will also be a ground cover of evergreen yew, which will help to highlight each segment and Peadar thanked everyone who helped to make the roundabout a success, particularly the people of Mitchelstown, local businesses and Cork County Council.This was an idea which Peadar came up with last year and he said that the project allowed him to be very creative and imaginative.

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