Tom • 11 • Limerick

8-11 Category   •  2026
My artwork was inspired by my Dad when he took part in ‘No Mow May’ over the last 4 years. At first the garden was a wild mess of grass and bushes which he cut using a scythe instead of a lawnmower. After about a year, wildflowers started appearing and eventually, birds started becoming more common until in the morning you could sit outside for hours listening to their music and seeing the odd hare leap through the grass. There were more swallows flying over our garden than our neighbours’. Many different butterflies and bees also appeared in the garden attracted to the nectar and pollen from flowers. Last spring, a beautiful, rare flower called the bee orchid (bottom right corner) sprang up and I now realise our garden had been transformed by nature. I sketched our garden on paper with pencil first, then coloured it in with colouring pencils.