Alan Titchmarsh’s parting swipe against decking apart, television has been very good for timber in recent years. And as you can see from our garden products supplement , Mr Titchmarsh’s remark on leaving the Ground Force show – that they’d overdone the decking and it was time for a change – doesn’t seem to have had much impact. According to the Timber Decking Association, the market is still growing and, importantly, maturing, with many consumers trading up to better quality products and more ornate (and value-added!) designs.
We’ve also been told by BBC TV’s Home Front in the Garden that the new series of the programme will feature timber as prominently as ever. In fact, when we quizzed them over exactly how they would use it, assistant producer Louise Pyne came over positively lyrical. Presenter Diarmuid Gavin wouldn’t, she stressed, be telling viewers to splash flash colours around the place. “All our wood products are being used in their natural state – they’ve been chosen for their natural colour and beauty.”
Asked for other pointers, she said the show would be using reclaimed hardwood for seating. But this did not mean they were making any rigid rules on use of tropical timbers, types of certification and so on. “Diarmuid is keen to use anything that is from a renewable source or has been recycled – we feature recycled western red cedar several times and it looks great – but we don’t take a stance editorially on the use of environmentally certified timber.”
Over the series, it looks as though western red cedar will be the star turn, but other species will also feature, including tropical timbers like “dark chocolate-coloured ipe”.
The programme won’t go much for using timber in “smaller applications like trellis-work and lawn edging”, but it will incorporate timber with concrete and steel in garden buildings. Most notable, apparently, will be a timber pavilion with drop down walls and a “copper pod-shaped garden room” that will be wood-lined so it’s like “sitting in an upturned boat”!
Interestingly, this week, TV presenter/ designer Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen – who’s the guest speaker at the TTJ Awards – has also told us that the design and lifestyle shows like Home Front are keen to build bridges with the industries whose products they use. And that includes the timber trade. This way, the shows are better placed to keep viewers happy by recommending products that perform, are practical and available.
“At the end of the day, we’re all in this business together,” he said.
And by the way Mr Titchmarsh, decking will still appear in Home Front in the Garden, although the show says intriguingly, “not always used on the floor”…
