Decking In The Garden

Wood’s Still Good

The first time I encountered decking I had to ask ‘why?’ I mean why lay floorboards outside? – it’ll never catch on back home…That was the summer of ’91, and I was learning about landscaping under the relentless Californian sun. It seemed like every ‘stateside’ designer loved decking. This infatuation suited us ‘landscape operatives’ just fine, as installing decking is relatively light work, and there’s something a bit Zen about working with wood.

Well I was obviously wrong about decking not catching on over here! Over the last few years ‘outdoor floorboards’ have caught on big time, then they sort of went of the boil a bit and now decking has its rightful place amongst the gamut of gardening surfaces, and for good reason. Firstly it is cheap when compared to ‘quality’ (i.e. not concrete) paving. Also materials are light and easy to work with, and readily available in a number of styles. For me personally decking lends itself best to problem areas, such as creating affordable raised step work or seating or for constructing a usable surface where paving is out of the question because of damp course issues.

Decking By Design

Decking provides an interesting durable alternative to paving, as well as a hardwearing substitute to grass – and it doesn’t grow either – so no cutting and no weeding, just maybe the odd application of timber preserving decking oil.

Decking is also great if you have to accommodate changing levels within the garden, as you can avoid all that horrible earth moving by knocking up suspended deck areas. You can also go for split levels – this requires more brain power and expense, but looks great, especially if you have a smaller town garden with limited space.

I think of decking as a soft surface in as much as it will provide a softer feel when used in conjunction with harder surfaces such as walling and paving, it is also kinder to falling children and stumbling adults alike. But a word of warning here – wet decking can be slippery – especially if you don’t keep it clean. I usually try and avoid decking in heavily shaded areas – as wood has trouble drying – which can make it slippery, and less long lived.

Choosing The Wood From Which Tree?

Decking does have a limited life span, with tanalised softwoods you can expect a fifteen year life expectancy in a nice dry spot. Hardwood decking will last longer as well as look a load classier. Obviously there is a catch – its expensive and tricky to work with– so you might need to track down a specialist supplier and a joiner to install it. If your loaded, then I suggest seasoned English Oak. A cheaper alternative is Balau, which is a truly ‘hard’ hardwood, being so tough that it requires no preservative treatment (so no nasty chemicals to worry about) – yet retains its exotic dark mahogany colouring. Yet be warned, it is both difficult to work with and can look rather ‘hard’ and out of place in and English garden. Also I personally question the environmental efficacy of using any rainforest timber in the garden.

A good compromise timber is western redwood, which is a relatively tough and long lasting coniferous timber that is easy to work yet gives a interesting finish. It is also reasonably cheap and often home grown in the UK.

The Finished Grade And Getting A Grip

When planning your deck think about surface finish. Smooth decking looks great yet can get slippery. If you don’t want grooves but prefer a flat finish deck then why not go for a compromise and use a narrower 100mm board, allowing for grip between boards.

Alternatively some prefer a really rustic looking deck; in this instance a wide rough cut board can be used. The rough finish of scaffold planks is ideal for this and allows for supper quick rough and ready construction, however the rustic look brings with it splinters and a propensity to rot!

For maximum grip on steps and walkways you should ideally go for a deep ‘grooved’ finish. Alternatively a reeded finish looks good, with many shallow grooves allowing the natural finish of the wood to shine through. A reeded finish is also kinder on the feet, reducing toe stubbing and massaging the sole of the foot; however this only applies if you are relaxed enough to ditch that footwear – which comes strongly recommended.

© Matt Hewes
All articles are written by freelance horticulturist Matthew Hewes and can be re-printed or replicated by permission only. If you wish to use findmeplants copy on your website then this will be considered in exchange for a link and inclusion of the author’s name. Matthew Hewes works as a freelance garden writer and is happy to write gardening articles to order.

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