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The Herald Scotland

TV gardener's 'doon the watter' promise to his family

'We talk about it all the time and they keep asking to go,' he says. 'I can still remember it now, that smell of seaweed and the sound of the paddles, it was so much a part of my childhood.' Filming commitments mean that Domoney may have to miss this summer's sailing schedule, but he will be in Scotland later this year when he cuts the ribbon on the National Gardening & Outdoor Living Show, which takes place at the Royal Highland Centre Edinburgh on July 26 and 27. The show is a brand new event and it will bring together top nurseries selling plants suitable for Scottish gardens as well as a traditional flower show with cut flowers, crafts and vegetables, alongside bonsai displays and koi carp exhibits and a Potting Shed Stage, where Domoney will be sharing his knowledge of growing and gardening. That knowledge built on long experience, which began when, as a Scout, he turned his 'Bob-A-Job' efforts, cutting grass for his neighbours, into a pocket-money business before, at the age of 16, taking up a three-year-apprenticeship with a leading garden centre chain. It was a route that offered training, education and practical, hands-on experience and which provided the foundation for a stellar career that has involved senior positions with DIY multiples and the founding of his own, hugely successful garden design and consultation business. Read More: Domoney has designed gardens for high profile celebrities and commercial clients, as well as winning 34 Royal Horticultural Society medals including a clutch of Chelsea golds. He has founded both the Community Street, community and schools gardening campaign, and the Young Gardeners of the Year competition, received royal accolades and been admitted as a 'Fellow' to a long list of eminent organisations, including the Linnean Society, the world's oldest organisation dedicated to botany. He is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable of all TV gardeners, yet when broadcasting live from the greenhouse of his home in Warwickshire, demonstrating to viewers of This Morning how to squeeze the maximum amount of colour out of their window boxes, or wielding a spade in a suburban patch on Love Your Garden, he has a down-to-earth, approachable style that makes him sound more like the capable bloke at the local allotments rather than the bona fide member of gardening royalty that he actually is. (Image: David Domoney) 'I've always loved talking to people about plants,' he says. 'I did it when I worked for the garden centre, giving advice to customers, then from that I moved to making video clips when I was working for one of the big chains and from that came the opportunity to work on TV.' That work has included making more than 120 gardens alongside Alan Titchmarsh and the Love Your Garden team as well as a series of instant transformations carried out live on daytime TV. 'The first thing that the participants would know about it was when I rang the doorbell at ten past ten in the morning and I had an hour and 50 minutes to complete the job.' Domoney keeps finding new ways to express the passion that took him into the industry at a young age and most recently that has taken the form of a new book, 'Plants with Superpowers' that took two years of research to complete. 'Did you know that you can charge your mobile phone using a potato or that walnuts don't just look like brains, they can help our grey matter to function better?' From the incredible longevity of the Ginkgo biloba tree, which has been around for 250 million years, or the Gas plant, which can spontaneously combust, Domoney says he was captivated by the stories that he uncovered. He'll be sharing some of these on stage at the National Gardening & Outdoor Living Show, along with giving advice on how to make the most of any garden. And if you want to know in advance the secrets of creating your dream garden, then here are David Domoney's top ten tips for transforming your outdoor space: 1. The garden is your own, personal environment so make it work for you. 2. Create something that is manageable. For instance, if you have lots of plants in pots then you are going to be doing a lot of watering. 3. Lawns are calming, they soften the garden and a well kept lawn will produce more oxygen than a patch of rainforest of the same size. 4. Make it a place that appeals to all the senses. Include plants with different textures and those like mint and rosemary which smell wonderful when you touch them. Try too to include the sound of running water. 5. Think of your garden as somewhere that can support your health so aim to grow currants, blueberries, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. 6. If you only have room for one tree, make it an apple. It will give you flowers, foliage and fruit and because the trees come in different sizes there's one for every garden. 7. Fill your home with houseplants, they bring the outdoors inside. Your window sills are the perfect environment for growing a whole range of beautiful plants. 8. Take care of the wildlife in your garden. Feed the birds and grow plants that are beneficial to insects. 9. The secret of any great garden lies in the soil, it is teeming with life and you can boost it with home made compost, so don't get rid of garden waste or vegetable scraps, compost them instead. 10. Aim to have something in flower in every month of the year. It won't just make your garden look better but it will also help insects to flourish. Tickets to the National Gardening & Outdoor Living Show are available from Enter HORTI30 in the code box to get 30% off a £15 day ticket.