Garden Woodwork

A garden, no matter how big or small, no matter what shape or layout, is supposed to be beautiful.  There are, of course, many types of beauty – from formalised spaces where geometric flower beds border immaculate lawns, to tumbling “nature gardens”, whose higgledy piggledy appearance is a part of their appeal.  Even in the most rambling natural look garden, though, an order is present – all gardens are spaces where people have defined what plants are in, what plants are out – how much lawn there is, how many flower beds, rockeries, trees, and so on.  Gardening is always design.  And that design can be completed in style using garden woodwork.

There are all sorts of variations on the theme of garden woodwork.  From trellises and pagodas to decking, sheds and fencing, “garden woodwork” spans the whole range and type of wooden things one can put in one’s outdoor spaces.  Invariably, garden woodwork represents a finishing touch – the punctuation marks in that garden’s grand design, be it ever so neat or as wild as can be.

The most obvious piece of garden woodwork is a fence.  With very few exceptions, British gardens tend to be defined by their fences.  The fence is a border that clearly states:  this is where I begin and end.  Inside the fence is the garden; outside, the rest of the world, which means that the fence defines the area to which the “rules” of the garden apply:  rules that state how each garden is organised, and therefore how it should be used and enjoyed.  A fence is garden woodwork that allows the garden to be what it is, by sharply defining its’ separation from the rest of the world.

Trellises perform the same kind of function as fences, but internally.  They’re another dividing and defining kind of garden woodwork – trellises can be used to frame parts of a garden, or as canvases on which to paint living pictures with climbing roses and other clinging plants.  Pagodas, with their latticed “walls” and raised platform floors, are garden woodwork that gives the users of a garden somewhere from which to enjoy the flowers, trees and grasses around them.  Effectively, a pagoda emphasises areas of a garden by directing people to view it from certain angles – another way in which garden woodwork makes the “language” of a garden come to life.

All garden woodwork offers a way to decorate a garden – to embellish it, to cap it off, or to frame it.  Garden woodwork is the ultimate way of formalising a garden:  it’s natural, but man-made, which makes it ideal for marking borders, dividing parts and identifying areas from which the garden should be enjoyed.  It’s a halfway house between man and nature – formed, obviously built, but made of a material that feels right in the garden environment.  Without garden woodwork, gardens would just be open spaces filled with plants.