The Wood Guide
Wood species99 Wood species →

Our wood species

Wood groups

European hardwoods

Softwoods

Tropical hardwoods

Treated wood

Sheet materials

Construction timber

Other materials

Comparisons

Which wood for what

Understanding wood17 Understanding wood →

Properties and movement

Calculations and sizes

Pests and decay

Identifying, quality and trade

Wood in our world

Care & finishing28 Care & finishing →

The complete guide

Treating and finishing

By wood species

By furniture and place

Problems and repair

Seasons

Choosing & buying16 Choosing & buying →

Picnic tables

Beer tables

Garden benches

Garden furniture

Garden and atmosphere

Indoors

Build it yourself51 Build it yourself →

In the garden

In and around the house

Making furniture

Techniques

Tools and glue

Getting started

Trees & forests31 Trees & forests →

Tree portraits

Forests

From forest to plank

To the Wood Guide home page →

The Wood Guide: everything about wood, tree to table

Scots pine among flowering heather
Wood knowledge from our workshop in Lebbeke

The Wood Guide

Everything about wood, from tree to garden furniture: which species, how it behaves, how to look after it and what to buy. 242 guides in six sections — honest, with the downside included.

Six sections

Where would you like to start?

Wood speciesFrom teak to spruce and from MDF to bamboo: every species described on its own, with the figures, the uses and the honest downside. Plus the comparisons that help you choose.99 guides · Teak wood · What is Douglas wood? · What is fir wood? Understanding woodWhy wood swells and shrinks, what a durability class means, how to calculate in cubic metres and what woodworm does. The basics that explain everything.17 guides · What are the characteristics of wood? · The functioning of wood · What are the Sustainability Classes of Wood? Care & finishingCleaning, oiling, staining and protecting — by wood species, by piece of furniture and by season. Plus what to do when something does go wrong.28 guides · Caring for wooden garden furniture · When Should You Use Stain or Wood Oil? · Impregnating Wood: A Comparison Between DIY and Industrial… Choosing & buyingWhich size, which wood, which model: the buying guides for picnic tables, beer table sets, garden benches and garden furniture — with honest pros and cons.16 guides · Buying a picnic table · Choosing a beer table and beer bench · Which wood to use for a garden table? Build it yourselfFrom a shed and a pergola to joints, gluing and tools. Building, working and repairing with wood, step by step.51 guides · Building a wooden garden shed · How do you build a wooden terrace on different types of ground? · How do you restore antique furniture? Trees & forestsWhere the wood comes from: the trees of our region, the forest types of the world and what good forest management is.31 guides · Ten broadleaf trees and their wood · The Oak · The pine tree
Handy tools

Calculate, choose and compare

The wood chooserThree questions, and you know which wood suits your garden. The comparerTwo species side by side: durability, weight, maintenance. The wood registerMore than seventy species with photos and characteristics. The cubic metre calculatorHow much wood do you need, and what does it weigh?
In season · autumn

Ready for winter

What others are reading

The most-read guides

  1. How much is 1 cubic metre of wood?Understanding wood
  2. Tackling woodwormUnderstanding wood
  3. What is Sheesham Wood?Wood species
  4. The pine treeTrees & forests
  5. Pine or spruce?Wood species
  6. What is HDF?Wood species
  7. When does wood expand?Understanding wood
  8. What is processed wood?Wood species
  9. The spruce treeTrees & forests
  10. What is hardwood?Wood species
Who writes this

Wood knowledge from people who work with it every day

The Wood Guide is written by E-woodproducts in Lebbeke, Belgium: we make and deliver wooden garden furniture across Europe, and we write down what we see every day — including what doesn't go well.

Our picnic tables Our garden benches Ask your question

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Scots pine among flowering heather — Dominicus Johannes Bergsma, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Planed Douglas fir boards with clearly visible growth rings — Philipp Zinger, CC BY-SA 3.0 · End grain of an oak trunk showing growth rings, heartwood and sapwood — Friedrich Böhringer, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT · Wooden table and benches on a patio among potted plants — Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hand with hammer and chisel carving letters into a wooden plank — Frédérique Voisin-Demery, CC BY 2.0 · Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in full leaf — Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0