Garden designer David Domoney is passionate about timber. Best known for his gardening talents on ITV’s Better Homes, at last year’s Hampton Court Flower Show, Mr Domoney highlighted the natural qualities of wood in a garden designed for House Beautiful magazine and sponsored by wood. for good.

Using timber as a central feature, the Water Lily Garden combined established planting with areas for relaxation and reflection. The design included a raised oak timber walkway, winding its way around a lily pond to a boathouse complete with exterior deck at the far end. A stylish pergola created an outdoor dining area.

The show judges were impressed with the whole effect and awarded the garden a Bronze medal. It was another feather in the hat for the celebrity garden designer. With a win at the Chelsea Flower Show and the BBC Gardeners’ World Live exhibition earlier in 2004, and Bronze and Silver Gilt medals at Hampton Court and Tatton Park Flower Shows for House Beautiful in 2003, David Domoney’s growing list of achievements is matched only by his popularity on television, working with Carol Vorderman on Better Homes and taking the role as gardening expert in ITV’s House of Horrors.

The designer felt that wood was the obvious choice to complement the Chelsea design. “It’s a natural product that always softens over time to fit the garden,” he said. “Artificial alternatives simply don’t have the right feel. The silvering effect of fence panels and decking is a natural part of ageing. Even the moss that grows on the top of the panel struts all plays a significant part in making the garden feel real. And there can’t be more of a natural product than wood to give you that feel.”

More economical

“One thing about wood is that it’s a lot more economical than its manufactured rivals, such as walling,” he said. “Certainly when it comes down to garden buildings, there is no real other effective alternative.

“It has always been part of the garden, from the allotment shed and the picket fencing through the decking explosion and ‘outdoor living’. As designers, we are now looking to introduce wood into the garden in a much more natural way.”

Decking will remain an important feature of garden design, although designers like Mr Domoney are already looking at the next generation of products. “We’re trying to make decking feel more of a natural part of a garden, rather than just a bolt-on to the house,” he said. “What we’re talking about is actually setting a decking area inside a border. Wood works best with the accompaniment of other plants. If you just put a pergola up without dressing it, then it’s just another add on to the house. If it’s covered in a grapevine or clematis or sweet-smelling wild honeysuckle, it suddenly becomes a part of the garden and that’s where wood works.”

He has seen the influence of other materials starting to creep in to garden design and believes it is important to gauge the mood of consumers. “Some designers are incorporating aluminium into wooden structures in a bid to ‘funk up’ the garden with different materials. My answer is never to underestimate the influence of the consumer. If they’re specifically looking for wood, then give them that: make it too controversial, and they simply won’t want it.”

Ease of use

The best thing about wood, said Mr Domoney, is that it is phenomenally easy to use, even for beginners. “There’s flexibility with wood that you don’t have with a lot of other materials,” he said. “And, of course, because it’s cheaper, it’s a lot more forgiving if there are any mistakes.”

It’s this ease of use which he says makes wood the material of choice, from the celebrity gardener to the beginner. But, to get the best use from wood in the garden, people need to experiment, and think outside of ‘ordinary’ solutions, like simply painting fencing panels. “Go back more towards natural staining where the colour of the wood is used rather than just being covered over by green or blue,” urged Mr Domoney.

“I’ve always had a great belief in tactility whenever you’re creating a garden – the stem of a plant or the feel of wood underfoot – you get a sensation of a natural product and that’s all part of garden design.”