Fitting hardwood garden decking is a common practice in garden design. The popularity of garden decking comes from its unique ability in getting that balance between green and natural look together with making practical use of space by creating different levels, steps and by covering unwanted surfaces. Provided that the right care and maintenance is preserved, your garden hardwood decking could easily exceed 30 years of use. Here’s our handy guide to help you prepare your garden decking for the British winter.

How To Prepare Your Garden Decking For The British Winter:

1. Make sure the weather is right – Preparing your decking for the winter needs to be done in the dry and you will soon discover why. Make sure you have a window of at least 6 hours before the weather turns.

2. Clear the surface area – Start by making sure that the decking surface is free of any clutter and garden furniture. When clearing the area make sure that you not drag any piece of furniture on the deck as you might damage the wood or its protective coating.

3. Brush the deck thoroughly – Using a stiff broom brush the area to get rid of any dirt and debris which has accumulated over the summer months.

4. Pressure wash the area – This is an optional stage, however it will help guarantee that no dirt and debris is left on the deck. Do not use an industrial grade pressure washer (above 1500 psi/100 bar) as it might damage the wood. Pressure washers which are used as multi-purpose home and car cleaners will work just fine.

5. Get rid of hard stains – There are two means to get rid of hard stains such as food residue. You can either use a chemical cleaning agent or soda crystals which are cheaper and never disappoint. To use soda crystals, simply spray warm water over the decked surface and sprinkle soda crystals. Leave the decking for a few hours and once dry brush using a stiff broom. Hence why this treatment should be done in the dry.

6. Treat the wood – Now that the decking is completely clean thereby restoring it to an almost factory like look, you will need to treat the wood. The best result is achieved by using decking oil which will seal the wood. You will need to apply two thin coats of oil using soft-haired paint brush and wait an hour between each coat. The soft-haired brush will ensure that there are no puddles of surplus oil is left.

7. Leave to dry – Wait couple of hours depending on the weather and place your garden furniture back in place.

Your decking is now ready for winter.

Guide contributed for ptadesign by the team at hardwood decking supplier Wood and Beyond which offers a wide range of garden decking and wood flooring for your home and garden.

The garden is developing this year from a good base starting point having been previously well cared for by the former owner. Some new features are being added to enhance a good collection of plants. Its a family garden so that means making room for a trampoline and accommodating a small dog.

This small garden was designed and built in the late spring of 2010. It is very colourful with petunias, nasturtians and other bedding plants to give it a bright start while the more structural plants establish themselves.

This is a large garden including a hot tub set into a curved deck. During the early stages of establishment, a section of the lawn suffered, possibly due to a problem with storage at the wholesaler. This section needed to be replaced. In a large garden like this, the amount of necessary maintenance, especially during the establishment period while the plants are small, can be daunting. When gardens are constructed at the beginning of the summer, it is best to have a maintenance plan in place. Often people have summer holidays booked and somebody needs to be given the job of watering while the garden owner is away.
The garden overlooks a pond which is currently being restored.

These are images from a large garden in Welwyn I did some design work on. Landscape and Garden design services can be fine tuned for all kinds of projects. In this particular case, the garden had been well design some years earlier and was well maintained. As the clients needs changed over the years, it became important to change and adapt the layout to the new client needs whilst retaining the existing overall character of the garden.

This is a very large garden which needed careful consideration given to the vistas and the on going maintenance requirements.

This is a garden design for a small town garden. A steep embankment at the rear provides opportunities for plant displays and the entertaining area required some screening for privacy

There are still lots of wildflowers on show in the countryside. Just because the spring rush is over doesn’t mean there are not spectacular displays to be found in and around the woodlands of Hertfordshire

Poppy Field

There are still lots of wildflowers on show in the countryside. Just because the spring rush is over doesn’t mean there are not spectacular displays to be found in and around the woodlands of Hertfordshire

This is the completed natural swimming pond. The rest of the landscaping is to be completed at a later time.

ptaDesign Gardens

• Profile

Garden Living