Fact Sheets
-Greewood DIY
-Practical project
Gardeners are busy people. This is not new, the typical cottage or kitchen garden would have been tended after a hard day at work with scant inclination for time-consuming frills. There were no garden centres and the structures they created from local materials had to be easy and quick requiring only simple skills. One result of the increasing consumer culture is that we have overcome our shame of being unable to do simple tasks for ourselves. A whole area of garden design is denied us as we become more and more dependent on the garden centre than that what is growing freely around us.
Simple Skills for Simple People
Many gardeners are women who have all too commonly been disenfranchised from the household toolbox! An unspoken power struggle exists where the gardener wishing to have some appealing item built for the garden, (claimed to be no problem by the custodian of the toolbox) seems to take a long-time to appear, if at all. In the end a poor substitute is bought from the garden centre denting the custodian of the toolboxes' ego and frustrating the gardener with the feeling that things are not quite right!
Real Men Don't Need Power Tools!
Working wood green i.e.. taken straight from the wood or hedge has a number of benefits including the ease of working and simplicity of the tools required. The down side is that products made can be less stable and liable to warping particularly when kept indoors but there are ways to avoid this if you are interested in taking things further. No need then for the full power tool range to build a simple item, removing some of the status of the toolbox.
Greenwood DIY
We have therefore invented a new discipline called Greenwood DIY. Based on using cheaply or freely available freshly cut wood and twigs a wide range of garden DIY projects are described. These use only simple but long established skills and techniques and help you to create the rustic products and gardens of your choice. Follow the links for details on making a wide range of products. We also want to hear about your projects in order to inspire others. Use the project profile sheet to describe your project and email/snailmail with pictures. All contributions acknowledged and photo's returned where requested.
Practical Projects
Grow your own beanpoles and peasticks
Gypsy Kipsy baskets
Twig Archway
Miniature gate hurdle
Bean poles and pea sticks
Simple rustic fences
Willow structures
Rustic chairs
Simple bentwood garden projects
Rustic wattle work
Rustic bird feeder and table
Wigwam plant supports
Small table
Customer Information Sheets
Simple information on the use and care of Local Woodland Products used in the garden. More information sheets will be added as we become aware of particular concerns. Feel free to contact us with any queries.
Double click on the subject of interest.
Buying local charcoal
Sawn Panel Fencing
Wattle Hurdle Fencing
Wooden Garden Fencing
Book list
Greenwood DIY Project
We want to encourage the sharing of ideas and experience on using locally grown wood in the garden. If you have a project that you think others will be interested in, however small, please let us know all about it. We will DTP the project proposal for use on the web site and, in some cases, as hard copy for distribution at shows etc. You will be acknowledged as the author.
The form below will help be guide on what information will be required, however feel free to present things in your own way. In most cases we will endeavour to try out the project well.
To discuss any ideas contact Geoff Sinclair on email orTel (UK) 01473 327720
Project Proposal Form
1. Your name and contact details;
2. Project title;
3. Introduction to the project: What it is about, nature of the skills
and tools required, relevance to gardeners;
4. Materials and tools required.
5. Step by step instructions. Assume nothing!
6. Additional points, eg
a. Gardening opportunities;
b. Preservation techniques;
c. Variations in the basic theme;
d. Etc
7. Further information/Acknowledgements.