Why Timber Quality Matters in a Garden Building — And What Makes Lugarde Different
When you're investing in a garden building — whether it's a summerhouse, log cabin, or garden room — the headline size and price are usually the first things you look at. But there's a detail that quietly determines how long your building lasts, how well it holds its shape, and how much maintenance you'll be doing in five years' time: the timber it's made from.
At Taylors Garden Buildings, we have been supplying Lugarde for more than 20 years as part of our premium range precisely because of how seriously they take this question. Here's a plain-English explanation of what makes their timber stand out.
It Starts With Where the Trees Grow
Not all spruce is the same — and geography is the reason why.
Lugarde's buildings are crafted from Nordic spruce (also known as Northern European spruce), sourced from the cold-climate forests of Scandinavia and the northern parts of Europe. These aren't particularly hospitable conditions for a tree. Harsh winters, short growing seasons, and low temperatures mean the trees grow much more slowly than their counterparts in warmer parts of the world.
That slow growth is the key to everything. As a tree develops, it lays down annual growth rings — and in cold climates, those rings form much closer together. The result is a timber that is denser, heavier, and more structurally stable than fast-grown equivalents. It's less prone to warping, splitting, and movement over time, which matters enormously in a garden building that needs to handle the full range of British weather across decades of use.
Think of it like the difference between a tightly woven fabric and a loose knit — both are technically the same material, but one holds its shape considerably better under stress.
Kiln Drying: Removing the Problem Before It Arrives
Fresh-cut timber contains moisture, and moisture in timber causes problems: it shrinks as it dries, potentially opening gaps and distorting joints. This is why the drying process is just as important as the species of wood.
Lugarde kiln-dry all of their timber in specialist drying chambers, bringing the moisture content down to approximately 14–16% before it ever reaches their factory floor. This isn't just a quality-control step — it's what allows them to machine the timber to millimetre-precise tolerances, knowing the material won't shift significantly once it leaves production.
The practical benefit for you as a customer is a building that goes together cleanly, sits true, and doesn't develop the rattling joints or visible gaps that can appear in cheaper buildings within a year or two of installation.
Three Timber Options — Each With a Purpose
While Nordic spruce is the foundation of Lugarde's range, they also offer two additional timber choices for customers ordering through their panel system:
Nordic Spruce — The core option. Pale, fine-grained, and workable, it's ideal if you want to apply your own stain, paint, or preservative treatment and make the building truly your own. It does need treating before assembly to protect it from the elements.
Northern European Larch — A naturally more durable timber that can be left untreated for considerably longer than spruce, typically up to ten to fifteen years depending on your local conditions. It has a warm, reddish-brown colouring that weathers attractively to a silver-grey over time.
Douglas Fir — Sourced from Western Europe rather than Scandinavia, Douglas Fir shares larch's durability and also requires little to no treatment at first. Its colouring is lighter — a yellow-red to yellow-brown tone — which can be maintained with oil or stain, or simply allowed to grey naturally.
Whichever you choose, you're getting a timber that's been thoughtfully selected rather than simply whatever was cheapest at the mill.
Sustainability Isn't an Afterthought
Lugarde's timber suppliers are PEFC certified — one of the world's leading forest certification programmes, which ensures timber comes from sustainably managed forests where replanting, biodiversity, and responsible harvesting are verified by an independent body.
Beyond certification, Lugarde's production approach is designed to minimise waste: offcuts and sawdust from manufacturing are repurposed rather than discarded, and the finished product is fully recyclable at end of life. For customers who want the warmth and character of natural timber without the guilt of unchecked resource use, this matters.
What This Means When You're Choosing
If you're comparing garden buildings on price alone, a Lugarde garden building will rarely be the cheapest option on the page. But understanding what's behind the price — slow-grown Scandinavian spruce, precision kiln-drying, sustainable sourcing, and exact machining tolerances — makes the comparison a very different conversation.
A cheaper building made from fast-grown, higher-moisture timber may look identical on day one. The difference tends to reveal itself at year three, year five, or after the first particularly wet British winter.
At Taylors Garden Buildings, we're happy to talk you through the timber specifications of anything in our range. If you'd like to see Lugarde buildings up close, or discuss which timber type suits your intended use, get in touch with us or visit us at Woodmeadow Garden Centre on Kettering Road, Northampton.
Browse our full range of Lugarde summerhouses, log cabins, and garden rooms at taylorsgardenbuildings.co.uk