RHS Chelsea wood charing: getting the Kyoto burnt oak effect

Christopher Bradley-Hole's design for The Telegraph garden features walls clad in charred oak. Joiner Tom Sims explains how he adapted an ancient Japanese technique for blackening the timber to produce a shimmering charcoal effect.

The charred oak walls, which run around two sides of The Telegraph's Chelsea show garden, reference traditional houses of Kyoto.

Historically created in charcoal fires, Tom Sims recreates the dark finish using an industrial blow-torch.

"There is no stain or dyes or anything involved," Mr Sims said. "It's an ancient process developed in the Middle Ages or even earlier to burn the surface of the timber to produce a charred finish.

"What this is going to do is give a nice dark effect; in fact sometimes some of the boards look like birds' feathers. They reflect the sunlight and you almost get the speckling like you do on a waterbird like a black moorhen."

The darkness of the charred oak back wall will provide the perfect contrast with the blond oak colonade, which forms the geometric backdrop to the garden.

For more on Chelsea, visit telegraph.co.uk/gardening/chelseaflowershow

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