About me
The name Sakura comes from the Japanese word for cherry blossom — a flower that symbolises beauty, impermanence, and renewal. The falling petal is an invitation to be present: to let go, to accept life's transience, and to find peace in the moment rather than resist it.
I’m Ejay O Mahony, founder of Sakura Garden Design. I design contemporary gardens with an emphasis on contemplative, restorative spaces: environments that invite stillness, presence, and a genuine connection with the natural world. My design ethos is grounded in personal experience and a deep understanding of how powerful quiet, thoughtful landscapes can be. It is what draws me to work at the intersection of nature, design, and emotional wellbeing.
I hold a professional diploma with distinction in garden design from the Garden Design Academy of Ireland. I bring to my practice a professional foundation in senior project management, with over sixteen years of experience at a global e-commerce company. This background instilled in me a disciplined approach to complex briefs, stakeholder communication, and delivering work to a consistently high standard.
My studio is based in Co. Cork and I work throughout the surrounding region. For exceptional projects, I am open to working further afield — please get in touch to discuss.
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In 2016, before I had any formal training in garden design, my wife Catriona had been living with a terminal illness since 2011. On the days when treatment left her too unwell to leave our home, I wanted to give her somewhere beautiful to sit — somewhere that felt like the world outside had come to her. Over a four year period we transformed our back garden in Co. Cork and spent many hours in it — together and alone — processing the weight of what we were facing. It became a space where difficult emotions had somewhere to go. Where silence felt like company rather than absence.
Catriona, my best friend and the person I had spent almost twenty years with, passed away in my arms on 11/11/2020 a few weeks after our garden was finished. She was forty-five.
Living through that experience changed my understanding of time, space, and the importance of places that allow people to breathe and reflect. A well-designed garden does something that very few other spaces can. It holds you. During the most difficult periods, the natural world offers a quiet kind of support — moments of stillness and peace, without demanding anything in return.