David Domoney

Category: Homepage

A list of blogs from the home page David Domoney. David is a Chartered Horticulturalist with over 40 years of experience growing and caring for plants. David has also worked on UK national television for over 2 decades. As a garden designer, David has won over 30 RHS medals for his garden designs at leading UK gardening shows and events.

  • Love Your Garden Episode 1: How to get the look at home

    Love Your Garden Episode 1: How to get the look at home

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    The garden makeovers on Love Your Garden are total transformations, designed to make a real difference to our families.

    But we hope too that you find inspiration for your own garden.

    Whatever your budget, or the size of your space, you can give your garden a new lease of life.

    Here’s how to get the look from the first episode of series five.

    1 The primary plant list

    The whole garden had a woodland theme, and it really worked with the playful children’s area. It featured the great Betula utilis jacquemontii tree, with its stunning white bark. We also planted Acer griseum and Amelanchier lamarckii trees in the garden.

    Other woodland plants included muscari, dog tooth lilies and viburnum tinus. And we used different varieties of primula: Primula veris (cowslip), Primula rubens and Primula denticulata alba for those white, globular flower heads.

    We also put in a beautifully scented low hedge with osmanthus burkwoodii.

    Elsewhere around the garden, we planted lungwort, aquilegias, tiarella, tellima grandifolia, wood anemone and ‘Brunnera Jack Frost’.

    See more photos of the finished garden!

    2 The Grow Your Own raised beds

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    Raised beds are a great way to grow crops because you can create soil depth without digging. Plus, you don’t need to bend over as much!

    You can make them at home by simply nailing planks of wood together to form a rectangle. Many people use old scaffolding boards from reclamation yards for the timber.

    Grow whatever fruit, herbs and vegetables you like in them. Just make sure to keep everything well watered.

    We planted the herbs sage, thyme, chives, fennel, rosemary and marjoram. We also put in carrots, garlic and rhubarb as crops, and Alpine strawberries for the children.

    Fancy trying your hand at growing edible plants? Check out my grow your own guides!

    3 Plants for height

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    This garden had loads of wall and fence space. But plants can always be used to cover walls and make them look nicer.

    If you don’t want plastic plants, here are some great climbers and plants for height.

    Try climbing hydrangeas, Lonicera halliana (honeysuckle), Heucherella ‘Tapestry’, Clematis cartmanii ‘Avalanche’ and fragrant jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).

    We also used shrubs for height: spirea arguta, dicentra alba and pieris japonica.

    Feeling inspired? Visit Love Your Garden’s website for details on the wooden teepee, canvas prints and Mode paving by Bradstone.

    P.S. Check out my exclusive pictures from behind the scenes!

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  • The Ultimate Flower Bulb Quiz: Fun spring bulb facts quiz

    The Ultimate Flower Bulb Quiz: Fun spring bulb facts quiz

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    Flower bulbs are some of the most popular gardens plants. Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are easy to grow and really brighten up your garden after a long, dark winter.

    Spring bulbs should be planted in autumn, so now is the time to really get to grips with flower bulbs.

    Here is a quiz to test your knowledge of bulb facts and trivia, plus see if you can recognise some less-common varieties.

    P.S. Take the stress out of choosing and mixing individual bulbs yourself. I’ve put together an exclusive collection of spring bulbs and seeds for John Lewis, matched by size, colour and flowering time to guarantee a fantastic display.

    Shop the collection now, for a limited time only!

    Please enter your name so the quiz can record scores. We will not publish individual scores.

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    Download a free guide to planting bulbs!

    Become a bulb-growing expert with my free guide to planting spring bulbs, designed to accompany my bulb collections for John Lewis.

    Download now

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    Shop my bulb collections for John Lewis

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    Bulb Box Collection

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    Amaryllis Collection

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    Bulb Crates Collection

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  • Judging the Haven gardening in a bucket competition

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    At the end of the summer I had the delight of going over to Haven in Great Yarmouth to judge an exciting competition they had.

    They tasked lots of holiday home owners with creating little gardens out of free buckets.

    I have to say that the challenge was taken up with a phenomenal amount of enthusiasm. I was bowled over by the little buckets – loads of thought had gone into it and some people even created handmade items. They were filled with imagination and humour and I wanted to share some with you. Here are a few of my favourites.

    This won first prize and it’s a truly magnificent display. It has three buckets made into a seaside cliff with brown fabric linking them together. The outermost one has a fantastic windmill, and I love the little catcus in the middle bucket.

    The main bucket is an evergreen treasure with lovely white rope fencing and garden furniture. The use of fabric, shells, pebbles and even cocktail umbrellas give this garden bags of personality.

    The plants are great choices for a low-maintenance container, including ivy, primrose, adjuga and plenty of alpines.

    Here’s how to plant an alpine rockery too!

    The second-place bucket garden is a green haven! It’s jam packed with plants to create a miniature world cut through with a tiny path. It has viola, ageratum, mossy saxifrage, a dwarf conifer and even a few cactus plants.

    I love the beach bucket attached to the side with sand, driftwood and a little towel. It also has a large rock with a little man who is preparing to dive into the smaller bucket. It’s really inventive and the planting is so clever.

    As you can see, this holiday home bucket has been dressed around the outside with a little seaside rake and spade to remind you of being on holiday. In the centre there is a little camper caravan with a table and chairs.

    I love the violas and campanula around the outside, and the sunflower representing the sun in the sky. The rainbow and cotton-wool clouds are also inventive. What a great bit of fun to brighten up the step of any caravan.

    Here’s my guide to planting perfect containers.

    This is a beautiful pink and purple display and I love the bucket decoration. Those hibiscus flowers around the outside make a real difference. It’s planted with viola and alpines, which are great plants for long-lasting containers.

    The recycled elements are very imaginative, including the use of plant labels to make the fence. The fountain is made from a plastic water bottle that has been cut into strips and bent back around. It flows into a water feature that’s really an ice-cream tub which has been painted. There’s also a little meerkat on that terracotta slab. The whole bucket has got a great deal of personality.

    This is a typical seaside bucket, including a lovely seagull. I love the nautical theme with the upended pot and the blue representing the water, with a wooden boat, anchor and ring too. There are also lots of shells and stars to decorate.

    The alpines, iberis and grasses are great container plants because they are low-maintenance. All in all, a gorgeous seaside tub.

    Here’s my top coastal plants.

    This is more forest-like. They have attached more containers around the outside of the bucket to give them more planting room and filled it with lovely evergreens. It has a tall conifer at the back to make you think of a fir tree. Beside that is a log cabin made from little wooden sticks that have been cut up and stuck together.

    I also love the white table and chairs and the little wheelbarrow at the front, and the splash of colour from the red cyclamen. It even has a wooden bridge linking the two pots. A very imaginative display.

    This is a beautiful one – it even has a homemade lodge in the back. And that windmill! It has all been made from recycled objects. I love the coffee stirrers and the tennis ball roof. It’s truly original and creative.

    The planting even includes a baby oak tree which looks like it was found on a woodland walk. And I love the use of buxus and alpines for evergreen foliage. It’s a really imaginative scene.

    Read how to create structure with evergreen plants here.

    This is the Great British seaside in a bucket! I love the handmade bunting and flags, and the puffin is a nice touch. The cut-up water bottles are used to make a sea splashing effect around the bucket, and the silvery planting and grasses reminds me of sand dunes. It’s really effective and would brighten up any home.

    Thank you very much to Haven for inviting me to judge the competition. And well done to everyone who took part.

    This is just a small selection of all the buckets that people have created to add a splash of colour to the steps of their holiday caravans. They looked marvellous and everyone should be very proud of their creations.

    Find out more about Haven Ownership here.

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