David Domoney

David Domoney
David Domoney
Born David Martin Domoney
(1963-03-26) 26 March 1963
Devizes, Wiltshire, England
Residence Stratford-upon-Avon
Nationality British
Occupation Horticulturalist, broadcaster, writer, gardener
Television This Morning (2011—)
Love Your Garden (2012—)
Partner(s) Adele Holdsworth
Children Alice & Abigail
Website daviddomoney.com

David Martin Domoney, C Hort. FCI Hort (born 26 March 1963)[1] is an English celebrity gardener and broadcaster, best known for co-presenting Love Your Garden and for being a resident gardening expert on ITV's This Morning.[3]

Domoney founded 'Cultivation Street', the national campaign to promote Community Gardening and School Gardens now in its 5th year. Domoney founded Young Gardeners of the Year competition (in association with the Princes Foundation) now in its 7th year showcasing new British talent in garden design and construction. David also writes weekly for the national Sunday British newspaper, the Sunday Mirror and for every issue of Grow Your Own magazine[5] [6]

Early career

David Domoney was born in Devizes, Wiltshire, the son of Raymond, a British Telecoms senior executive. Jean Domoney, David's mother, born in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, had three children and a career in sales. After leaving Moseley School, Birmingham, in 1979 aged 16, he studied at Warwickshire College of Agriculture, gaining a Pre Cert. Horticulture qualification.[7]

In 1980, he enrolled in one of the last of the industry's old style comprehensive three-year apprenticeships with Notcutts Nursery & Garden Centre Group (which at the time were the Harrods of Horticulture) during which he studied at Hadlow College of Horticulture. In 1983, David left Notcutts to study full-time at Pershore College of Horticulture, receiving an Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (ANCH).[8] He had a successful business career in horticulture, with Notcutts predominantly, as a plant adviser/manager on the front line answering visitors gardening questions. David joined the biggest UK growing group Anglia Nursries as Sales & Marketing Manager, before joining Seasons Garden Centre Group PLC as Horticulture Director.

Domoney then spent a decade heading up the garden buying teams for super store giants Texas Homecare and Do It All. [9] David began his broadcasting career at Texas Homecare—presenting gardening features on the satellite TV station the company ran at its 20,000 staff.

In 1999, Domoney formed his own garden design company. He raised finance for his own garden designs at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) shows including the Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Palace, BBC Gardener's World Live and the Tatton Flower Show. To date, he has won 28 Royal Horticultural Society medals.[10]

David has designed and built spectacular show gardens and events to promote some of the nation's favourite brands. His clients have been John Lewis, Harley Davidson, the Ritz Piccadilly, Lexus, Croft Sherry, Laura Ashley, Manchester Children's Hospital, British Trust of Ornithology and Levive Diamonds, to name but a few.

Amongst David's celebrity clients he has landscaped gardens for Phillip Schofield, at his home in 2010, and England striker Michael Owen for his 'Hello' magazine wedding shoot.[24]

Career

Television

Domoney's passionate and enthusiastic approach shows that gardening should be about getting stuck in and learning as you go.[22]

He is an expert who can demystify gardening in a warm and inspiring way.

Public Speaking

David is known for being a passionate and engaging public speaker. He speaks regularly at flower shows and commercial events across the UK, sharing his experiences as a TV gardener and his deeper horticultural expertise with the public. Select public speaking appearances include:

Garden designs

His approach is to attract people not normally interested in gardening by enticing them with innovative design and inspiring ideas. He created a Piranha-infested underwater garden with five tanks containing plant biotopes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2009.[27] His show shocked the nation and stopped the Queen in her tracks. It also won him a Gold Medal.[28] The following year he created the Ace of Diamonds garden – the most expensive show garden ever seen at the Chelsea Flower Show with £20m worth of diamonds.[29]

For Harley Davidson he built a garden for a Hells Angel which even had a sculpture Ace of Spades made from Spades. He built the 2010 World Cup football garden at BBC Gardeners World Live and he created a garden in 2015 with the biggest tree house ever seen at a garden event for Quiet Mark, John Lewis & Lexus at RHS Hampton Court Palace.

For 2017 at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, he designed a garden for The Commonwealth War Graves Commission as part of their celebration on the Commissions centenary.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Centenary Garden

He was delighted to be approached by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to design a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show 2017.

The Commission, works to ensure that the 1.7 million people who died in the two world wars will never be forgotten, and they do this by caring for cemeteries and memorials at and incredible 23,000 locations, in 154 countries. The commission's purpose is to encourage contemplation, remembrance and respect for all that was sacrificed.

Achievements

  • Winner of 26 RHS Medals for Garden Design 1999 – 2017
  • Winner of 2 RHS Medals for Floral Exhibits 2005– 2006
  • Winner of RHS Medal for Science & Education Exhibit 2015
  • Winner of 4 & 5 Star RHS trade stands 2015
  • Winner Best Chelsea Flower Show City Garden RHS Trophy 2006
  • Winner Most Creative Show Garden RHS Trophy 2008
  • David has won medals in every RHS category
  • Winner of the Frank Howell Trophy Most outstanding old student Warwickshire College Group
  • Awarded HTA (Horticultural Trades Association) Honouree Membership for services to the Hort Industry 2015
  • Awarded BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries Honouree Membership for services 2010
  • Winner of a GIMA Trophy (garden industry manufacturers association) Best designed product 2009

Industry Achievements

  • Giving over 600 horticultural students the opportunity to have the invaluable first hand experience to create a show garden at a national show before they leave college
  • Motivating thousands of communities and schools into gardening through his Cultivation Street Campaign and promoting the benefits of gardening in social environments and as part of a healthy lifestyle
  • Stretching the appeal of gardening to a wider audience with inspiring and exciting show exhibits and gardens

Other projects

David sits on the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Commercial Board. David is a Governor at the London Colleges of Horticulture at Capel Manor. David is also the face of community gardening with his national campaign ‘Cultivation Street’, now in its 5th year supporting hundreds of community gardening projects and school gardens up and down the country. David pioneered the ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’ annual competition at Olympia London, which is now in its 7th year. It is run through his association with HRH The Prince of Wales and The Prince's Foundation for Building Community.

Personal life

David has 2 daughters with Adele. Alice-Rose Domoney born in August 2014 & Abigail Violet Domoney Born in March 2016. He is a keen biker and has a V800 Vulcan motorbike. He is a master scuba diver with over 200 logged dives. His Specialist PADI Diving Qualifications include: Wreck Diving, Diver Propulsion Vehicles, Maldivian Shark Diver, Deep Diving and Dry Suit Diver.[36]

Domoney lives near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Charity work

He is the Gardening Ambassador for THRIVE, one of the largest garden charities in Britain, which aims to enable positive change in the lives of disabled and disadvantaged people through the use of gardening and social horticultural therapy.

Davis is an ambassador with The Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund who raise awareness of melanoma through the Watch Your Back! campaign. As well as prevention, they fund research to help find a cure, lobby in Government for greater awareness and connect with patients to ensure their journey is shared

For over 15 years David has hosted the charity auctions/lotto for Euro plants open days. Since childhood Domoney has collected for the Methodist charity, JMA, and continues to do so.

References

  1. ↑ The Alan Titchmarsh Show
  2. ↑ Garden ER
  3. ↑ 60 Minute Makeover
  4. ↑ This Morning
  5. ↑ Solution Street
  6. ↑ House of Horrors
  7. ↑ Better Homes
  8. ↑ House Auction
  9. ↑ Gardeners form Hell
  10. ↑ Plant Doctor
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