David Domoney

Category: Blog

Blogs, guides, and gardening ideas from TV Gardener and Chartered Horticulturalist David Domoney.

  • F Words garden design guide: flooring, fencing and features no 1

    F Words garden design guide: flooring, fencing and features no 1

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    The F Words is how I see a garden as I look at it. If you divide your garden into these three parts, you can take realistic steps towards your dream garden look. Today we’re going to look at the first F – flooring. Stay tuned to find out about fencing and features!

    Chelsea Flower Show 2018 Plants
    Chelsea Flower Show 2018 Plants

    Picture the scene. I am at a TV colleague’s house for the first time, supposedly to collect some tapes. But it soon becomes clear that I’m the victim of what we call in the trade a ‘green ambush’.

    I can see it coming when he opens the back door. “Any chance you can have a quick look at my garden while you’re here and give me some advice?” Got me – hook, line and sinker!

    So I find myself standing in this cold, overgrown garden with him. His family are all watching me. Just as I go to open my mouth, he adds, “Oh and we don’t want to spend a fortune”. Bang goes the bulldozer recommendation then!

    But I take a quick look and think of my F Words guide. In moments I am on a roll and they are cooing with inspiration.

    One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make is to confuse garden design as an art form with practical garden renovation. But, and this is really important, you do not need to be a 400-metre Olympic contender to enjoy running.

    There are simple, cheap, easy and achievable ways to create a garden to be proud of. For a small amount of money and a couple of weekends, you can completely make-over your garden.

    Flooring

    By flooring, I mean anything on the ground. This could be your lawn, patio and/or decking.

    Lawn

    Man cleaning lawn mower blade. Preparing to mow some grass.

    This is a must for households with children and pets, but also for people like me who still believe that a lawn is the essence of a traditional garden.

    Boost

    You can rejuvenate your lawn with a programme of aeration and feeding. Aeration involves getting fresh air down to the roots by making holes in the lawn. This also reduces soil compaction and improves drainage. Aerate once a year by pushing a garden fork deep into moist soil at 6 inch intervals. Follow with a generous sprinkling of lawn feed.

    Replace

    It’s easy to replace your old scrappy grass with a lush new lawn. If you want instant results, buy new turf and have it laid. If you’d like something more affordable, you can prepare and seed a new lawn, but get a consultation from a garden lawn centre expert on your soil type.

    Patio

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    blank

    Don’t start worrying about cost of a new patio – you can revamp your existing one in an afternoon! First, get out any weeds. Then use a patio cleaner to scrub off dirt and algae. For the best results, hire a pressure washer from a DIY centre – you’ll only need it for a day, and it makes it look brand new!

    Make sure you fix any uneven slabs in properly. You can replace broken ones, but for a cheap fix just rip them up and put plants in their place! Alpines and succulents are great for this. Brush a new layer of sand over the patio to fill in the gaps between slabs and stop weeds coming back.

    Decking

    blank

    Journalists and TV interviewers are always begging me to say that decking is old fashioned and on its way out. But I don’t think this is necessarily the case. Wood in the garden adds warmth and style, and it will stay with us for a long time yet.

    If you have a deck, revamping it is easy. A good scrub down and an oil-based treatment will give it new lease of life.

    For those of you who would like decking in the garden, try something a bit different. I always recommend oak – it gives a rich, timeless look.

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    Read the entire F Words garden design series

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    Flooring

    You don't need to be a Chelsea Flower Show designer to get a great garden

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    Fencing

    Contemporary

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    Features

    Help for Heroes garden

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    For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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    Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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  • My top Chelsea Flower Show moments in my career

    My top Chelsea Flower Show moments in my career

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    The Chelsea Flower Show is over for another year, and around this time I always look back to the great projects I’ve done there.

    I created the first exhibit with living creatures during show days (not just press day) with my 2008 underwater garden. It was the first ever underwater garden at Chelsea, featuring 50 varieties of plants never before seen at the show.

    David Domoney Chelsea Flower Show Underwater Piranha garden

    The next year I created another underwater garden, this time featuring five tanks with plants from around the world. One contained 15 live piranhas, the first time such animals had been seen at Chelsea.

    David Domoney Chelsea Flower Show Underwater Piranha garden

    I also created the Ace of Spades garden for a biker, which was the first time a fully working motorbike had been on the garden – it was a Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob with a flaming skull on the side! This was also the only garden to feature black plants!

    David Domoney Chelsea Flower Show Ace of Spades Garden

    The following year, I designed the Ace of Diamonds garden, full of glittering gems and genuine diamonds, worth a whopping £20m. It was the most expensive garden ever created at Chelsea, and as far as I know, the only one to come with its own security!

    David Domoney Ace of Diamonds Garden Chelsea Flower Show

    My wild birds garden was great fun to launch – we released 100 white doves on the garden on press day! It was the first time this had been done at Chelsea. And for my reflections garden, I added interactive paving – it changed colour when you walked on it!

    David Domoney Chelsea Flower Show Reflections Garden

    Finally, I had the most fun creating gnomes in 2013 for the Chelsea Flower Show’s centenary celebrations! They lifted their famous ban on ‘brightly-coloured mythical creatures’ for one year only to raise money for the RHS campaign for school gardening.

    David Domoney Kate and Will Royal Gnomes

    I created the first royal gnomes seen at the show, and the first caricature gnomes, with my affectionate portrayal of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Gnomes are often associated with bringing good luck, I could not think of a more popular couple that the nation was wishing good luck to at the time!

    David Domoney Kate and Will Royal Gnomes

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  • Top 10 plants for foliage at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

    Top 10 plants for foliage at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

    Despite its name, The Chelsea Flower Show is about more than just flowers – it’s about foliage. It’s the unsung hero of garden design and people often overlook its importance in flower beds. But it plays an important role as the backdrop for the flowers and adds structure and texture.

    Here are my favourite plants for foliage from the show.

    Lagorus Ovatus Bunny tails

    bunny-tails

    This is one of those plants that you have in the garden just to touch. Plant it in your flower beds and let the tips move about in the wind.

    Heuchera

    heuchera

    This is the standard low-growing plant for foliage, and it’s such a good choice. It comes in a range of colours, but I spotted this nice purple shade – it’s the top colour trend this year!

    Pine trees

    pine-trees

    All gardens should have trees, but if yours is small, try a dwarf tree like this. Evergreen is best for foliage, and gives structure in winter when all the flowering plants are dormant. And the texture works well with more delicate flowers.

    Vriesea Hieroglyphica

    Vriesea-Hieroglyphica

    This is a great plant for tropical foliage – its markings almost remind me of zebra stripes.

    Heucherella Sweet Tea

    heucherella

    For a bit of Autumnal colour in summer, try heucherella. Its foliage looks like autumn tree leaves littering the floor, and its tiny white blooms add an elegant touch.

    Hosta

    hosta-bed

    Hostas are great plants for shade – spots under trees or beds behind fences and walls. But they also look great in mixed flower borders.

    Poinsettia

    poinsettia

    This is the archetypal bright foliage, traditionally a Christmas plant. But it looks good outside too.

    Molinia Caerula

    Molinia-Caerula

    This is a fantastic grass for planting among bed and borders to break up the flowers. It also looks great in containers for a modern effect.

    Bromeliaceae Neoregilia

    Bromeliaceae-Neoregilia

    Tropical plants are always in fashion, and this one has the added bonus of red foliage. It makes great groundcover too.

    Millium effusum

    millium

    It looks like a thick-bladed grass, and it’s great for underplanting – this means planting around the base of taller plants. And it’s a lovely yellowy-green colour.