In article , Frogleg
writes
On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 13:21:39 +0100, Kay
wrote:

Frogleg writes

I'm familiar with (some of) your climate. Interestingly enough, I
looked up average annual rainfall figures for Norfolk, VA and Norfolk,
UK. Virginia: 44inches. UK: 23 inches. Of course that doesn't tell the
whole story, but believe me, I've experience with mildew, moss, and
mud. :-)

I'm not familiar with Norfolk VA. Norfolk UK is on the drier and sunnier
east of the country.


I gather from the thread that the objections are based on decking
being 'trendy' and non-traditional, popularized by one or more TV
shows, and over-adopted by too many people.

Over adopted in the context of a country where for many months of the
year any fallen rain does not evaporate for a considerable time. If we
had heavy rain which dried quickly in hot sun, decking would be
admirable. Decking is not suitable where you have periods of drizzle
interrupted by periods of cloud. Yes, you can apply anti-slip methods,
but many people don't even think of that. Given that decking is being
brought into prominence by many TV garden make-over shows which are
designed for people with no experience of outdoor design, it is well
worth putting the opposite view, and suggesting that they should think
of the practicalities.

Suppose in the southern US you were being deluged by TV shows suggesting
instant makeovers involving laying nice green turf, and you had a steady
stream of people wandering into rec.gardening asking where to get the
cheapest turf, wouldn't you feel inclined to probe the reasons for their
choice and mention words like 'watering'?

I don't think the objections stem from it being 'non-traditional'. UK
gardening has never been afraid to adopt new ideas, as can be seen by
the diversity of gardens across the country, and we do, of course, have
a long history of gardening characterised by repeated sweeping of new
fashions, for example as popularised by Capability Brown or Gertrude
Jekyll.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"