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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 Series 4 episode 2: behind the scenes photos

You’ve seen the show, now check out what happens behind the scenes!

(Missed it? Watch it on ITVPlayer now!)

This is something for every spaghetti Western fan – Frances’ wellingtons with her special secateurs boot holder, ideal for a quick draw ready for any pruning, broken, damaged or diseased branches.

This is our series producer Phil and production manager Jim. This is the camera on a telescopic boom that goes into the air to film a lot of the top-shots down onto the garden. I can’t tell you how much hard work that particular pole is! It needs programming, fine-tuning, resetting – it’s so frustrating! However it has given us some great shots of the garden. In previous episodes we’ve filmed shots from a neighbour’s roof, but this gives incredible sweeping views.

Here’s Thea, one of our associate producers. She pulls together most of the products, from paving to arches. She does a marvellous job getting everything together for us.

Here is Tam and Sam, also known as Mr Muscles! They work for Frosts Landscapes. It’s amazing how much soil we’ve put into gardens, especially when it’s raining or the soil is particularly poor. We moved literally tons and tons of soil. It’s exhausting!

This is our intrepid production manager Jim getting to grips with the power tools. He’s the best guy for assembling the BBQ and other garden furniture. Here he’s busy posing with a drill instead of using it – he thinks he’s James Bond. Brooke Bond more like!

This is Dan from Frosts. He’s always got a smile on his face. It’s a lovely atmosphere when we’re creating these gardens, because it’s such a great bunch of people. Between the production team, the landscape support, the suppliers and presenters, there’s marvellous camaraderie. And we really pull together against impossible deadlines.

Everybody is getting stuck in here. Alan’s down on his knees with Katie as they’re putting some of the works together for the centrepiece. In the background is our series producer Phil, who is meant to be encouraging Alan but looks more like he’s wrestling with that bush!

Here’s me getting in trouble again for taking photos for you, dear readers! The things I do for you. Frances is doing some presenting in the background, and Natalie, one of our directors, is busy telling me off!

Here we have a mud cake – this is actually a real chocolate cake, but it does look like a joke one! I thought I’d lend a hand with the slicing and serve it on a spade. Not everyone was happy about it though – apparently people wanted to eat it! No sense of humour.

This is us on location looking at all the different greenhouses. It’s the Manor garden, which was absolutely superb and one of the best gardens I’ve seen in ages. The greenhouse at the end is spectacular and we had a very enjoyable day filming.

I was late to turn up to the greenhouse video because I was stuck behind this for about 15 minutes down a one-track road. What a nightmare. I took this photo as evidence to show the director Ben that it wasn’t just an excuse! Ben, if you’re reading this, it was true!

This is the bird of paradise, the strelitzia, I was talking about while doing the greenhouse video. I don’t actually think it looks like a bird, but check out those amazing colours. The vibrant orange and the purple with the silvery green stem looks as if it’s been handcrafted! It’s marvellous.

Here’s a shot of the glamour of television. Alan is getting ready to present over a table propped up by a couple of fence posts. Katie, Frances and I are waiting in the wings. The reason this shot looks so funny is because it has just started hailing! Alan’s cowering under that umbrella, and poor Steve in the background is running through the hailstones for a spare battery! Not glamorous at all.

Here’s some more glamour in the greenhouse! It’s pouring down with rain, and Alan, Katie, Frances and myself all got inside, along with the cameraman and the director. But it was so packed, there wasn’t room for our poor sound guy Matt, who had to wait outside in the rain! Here’s a lovely photo of him pouting, and he won’t be pleased that I’ve put it in the blog!

Here’s another shot of action. Steve is almost taking a foetal position as he tries to get a shot through those flowers to catch Frances going back to the garden with her wheelbarrow. It’s always a pleasure to work with Steve – he goes the extra mile!
July 1, 2014
David Domoney joins Thrive charity as Ambassador for Gardening

I have great news – I’m now the Thrive Ambassador for Gardening!

Thrive is an inspirational charity that uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people who are living with disabilities or ill health, or are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. This is known as social and therapeutic horticulture (STH).

Improving health and wellbeing are at the heart of STH but there are so many benefits for people who take up gardening.

They develop new skills, learn about food growing and what is good and healthy to eat; they become fitter and boost their confidence because of their new-found knowledge.

I’m delighted to join Thrive and have long believed in their founding principle – that gardening is good for all of us! So often people feel daunted by gardening, but working with Thrive, I want to inspire people to get outside and have a go.

I went to their main headquarters near Reading to meet some of the people whose lives have been changed by the charity’s work. And I was inspired by all of the people I met. All of them have difficulties in their lives and the work staff and volunteers are doing is making such a difference.

I spent a bit of time with Nick and we got chatting about his charity bike rides. What came across to me is that he was a confident, happy young man. He also told me about his love of gardening and how he likes doing the ‘hard graft’ work – building up his muscles and keeping himself fit. That’s great to see.

How can I get involved?

Join our Garden Party Campaign! I’m asking proud gardeners up and down the country to host a fundraising garden party!

Simply invite friends, family and neighbours round to your garden and get everyone to buy plants, seeds, veg crops or cut flowers! No matter what size your garden, you can join in and host an event.

It’s a great way to get outside and enjoy the fruits of your gardening labour – plus you’ll pick up fantastic growing tips and new varieties!

All the money raised will go to helping Thrive make a huge difference to people’s lives, so please get involved now.

Visit Thrive’s website to learn more about their work

Read about how Thrive helps people get gardening with reduced mobility on the Daily Express.
July 1, 2014
One year on: Inspiration Street winners King’s Heath revisited

To celebrate the second year of our Cultivation Street campaign, we’re taking a look at last year’s winners and what they’ve done with their prize vouchers.

The deserving winners of Inspiration Street 2013 were residents of Grove Road Estate in King’s Heath, Birmingham. They had come together to develop the gardens in their sheltered housing scheme made up of two tower blocks, mostly inhabited by single elderly people.

The judges were impressed by how the residents had joined forces to make the garden beautiful, and do therapeutic and meaningful activities together to improve relationships between the neighbours.

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Before…

Residents Jan and Terry began doing up the garden because their friend Trevor used to sit on the garden bench with nothing but concrete to look at.

“We decided to transform the garden into a nice place to sit. Then we got inspired, and started transforming all of the grass and concrete area around the two blocks!” said Jan.

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Terry and Jan on the bench

Bit by bit other residents began to join in, and they overcame some tough hurdles. The site gets a lot of vehicle and foot traffic through to a local school and a pub, and many residents have health and mobility issues. Some of those that couldn’t help physically in the garden offered plants and cups of tea instead.

When they won the vouchers, they all headed to the local garden centre and spent three happy hours taking advice from staff and choosing plants.

They have planted species with golden foliage and berries to celebrate the RHS Go for Gold Britain in Bloom, and had everything ready for RHS Open Gardens day on 22 March, to coincide with the Big Dig Day.

The residents now have a local allotment group coming to do a veg-growing workshop with them. Jan said, “This year, it’s all about relationships: our growing understanding of sustainability and how to show respect for nature, and our growing friendships with one another as we garden side by side.”

“The garden was wasteland only two years ago, but now it’s almost as if it knows that it’s loved and cared for – the grass feels lusher and the air is full of energy. Now we can admire not only the flowers, but the bees, butterflies and tasty produce too!”

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The garden this year, including the bench with the plaque

Sadly, Trevor died of cancer last July, and the residents had a plaque installed on the bench in his memory. But the garden is still bringing their community together, even in the face of adversity.

Jan told us, “When we’re out in the garden, shyer neighbours stop for a chat, and as a result, some are coming to our indoor events too. There is quite a knock-on effect.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
June 27, 2014