Making Its Debut at RHS Chelsea: Our Latest Custom Dog Weathervane

We're delighted to have produced a weathervane for Monty Don's Dog garden at the RHS Chelsea show this year (2025).

From Sketch to Statement Piece

In this case, the customer contacted us with a computer drawn sketch. It was pretty accurate and didn’t need a lot of work, but I made a few tweaks, for example ensuring the feet would sit flat on the ground, thickening the back legs and simplifying a few of the cut outs while staying as true to the original drawing as possible. 

The drawing initially included four forged steel balls, but we discussed this with the customer as we felt the top one would interfere with the placement of the dog on the sail, and the one that was drawn as part of the sail would make it incredibly difficult to balance & therefore may not function. We sent over a couple of revised sketches, one that included one ball and another including two, and in the end they chose the design with just one ball centrally as part of the cardinal points.

I feel like we have prioritised staying true to the customers vision, while also using our creativity, design skill and weathervane expertise to improve the design. It’s this collaborative approach that means a bespoke weathervane from Black Fox Metalcraft can be truly personalised, exactly to the customers specification.

24" Medium Weathervane - A Versatile Favourite

The weathervane we have made for Monty Don's Dog Garden is a medium (24” North-South) size. It’s the most commonly ordered size as it is ideal for fitting to a single storey garage, carport, garden building or even a pergola with a reasonable amount of space.

It’s what we recommend for gifting if you are unsure where the recipient will put it, as the 18” really is only designed for a small garden shed of about 9ft in height, whilst the large and XL are best suited to being fitted to a house or barn. A medium sized weathervane is a great way to top off a summerhouse, garage or greenhouse; something to be admired while enjoying summer evenings on the patio, so they can make a wonderful gift for a garden lover - perhaps as a house warming, wedding or special birthday present.

Tight Timescale & Flexibility

Though we generally try to complete orders in around 4 weeks (more like 5 weeks allowing time for gilding), when our customer approached us with this job, there was a deadline of around 2 weeks. Because of the high profile nature of the Chelsea Flower Show, there was no flexibility in the date the weathervane was needed for. And predictably with impeccable timing, our four year old twins brought home a virus from nursery and were off ill for a couple of days keeping me at home, so David had to work some very late nights in order to make sure the batch was finished in time! However, get it done we did, delivering the weathervane reliably as promised, in time for building the dog garden. 

If a customer has an important deadline, we will always do our utmost to meet it, and will never promise a delivery for a date that we cannot 100% guarantee.

Custom Ball on the Cardinal Points

The customers sketch of the weathervane included one or more forged steel balls around the cardinal points. We have fixed the forged ball on fairly simply with shaft collars and grub screws, but this added a layer of complexity at both the manufacturing and packaging stage, as it doesn’t easily flat pack with this addition. It’s not something we offer as standard for this reason, but pride ourselves on bringing our customers' ideas to life so of course we were happy to do it. This care, precision and flexibility makes Black Fox Metalcraft stand out from any competitors in providing a truly bespoke service.

Technical Details of the Gilding Process

As always, this weathervane is electroplated with a layer of zinc to prevent rust taking hold, before being finished in a classic looking but highly durable matt black powdercoat. 

Though the powdercoat’s non porous finish is ideal for preventing moisture getting in, it does mean you can’t gild directly onto it. I’ve had to lightly etch the surface of the powdercoat so the paint has something to adhere to, being extremely careful not to damage it. A coat of primer followed by 5 thin coats of outdoor paint then forms a nice base to begin gilding. I’ve then used oil based gold size to adhere the gold leaf to the weathervane - it’s tacky after about an hour and that’s the ideal time to apply the 23.5 carat gold leaf. It’s a process you can’t really rush without massively affecting the quality, and it’s a surprisingly fiddly, skilled job that I’ve definitely got a lot better at over the years!

Why is gold leaf better than gold paint?

Humans have had an enduring fascination with Gold for thousands of years. Gold is inert, meaning it does not react with air or water. Ancient gold artefacts dug up after years underground still maintain their sparkle, giving the metal a magical quality. 

Gold leaf is thin sheets of genuine gold. It does not dull over time like paint will. Paint may look great at first, but it will soon lose it’s sparkle. Gold leaf will glint in the sunlight for many years, and is ideal for adding an extra special touch to a weathervane.

Things we hope to see in Monty Don's Dog Garden

From the perspective of a dog lover, I’m actually really excited about this project. So often dogs are expected to fit into our world, so the concept of a garden designed specifically for dogs to enjoy is a great idea - I’m really looking forward to seeing what Monty Don has come up with for his Golden Retrievers! 

Both David and I grew up with dogs, and currently at home we have a 6 year old Border Collie. Though Bryn is a wonderful & gentle family pet, he is from working stock and has a high drive to match. If I was designing a garden especially for Bryn, he’d need:

• Plenty of space for his agility training. He loves to follow commands from his humans; jumping on/off/through things, so perhaps a couple of big logs, plus his weave poles and tunnel. 
• Enough room to swing him around on the end of his reward tuggy when he’s done a good job!
• Include a long grass/wild area for hiding his scent toys, and also where interesting creatures might burrow about leaving their scent for him to follow.
• He would definitely need a shaded area for hot days so perhaps a reasonable sized tree or two with a seat in between, as he loves to be with his people.
• Uncommonly for a border collie, Bryn is actually pretty obsessed with water so a little stream where he can fetch his favourite ball would be ideal. (As soon as he hears running water he’s in there no matter how shallow, ears up, crouched down hoping someone will throw something!)

We’d be interested to hear what our readers would love to include in a garden for their dogs?

Gifts for Dog Lovers & Owners

Weathervanes can be more than just a decorative thing or weather reading tool, they can be genuinely meaningful. Pets are family members and a bespoke weathervane can be a wonderful way to celebrate that. Black Fox Metalcraft can even paint the weathervane sail in full colour to match a photograph, so this really can be as unique and personalised as you like.

The design process often involves emails going back and forth several times getting the design exactly how the customer wants it, so there’s definitely an emotional connection on our part in creating bespoke dog weathervanes - receiving an email like the one below telling us how thrilled they are with it really does make our day!

“We’re overwhelmed by the beautiful weathervane you and he created for Georgina. It’s simply beautiful and words can’t describe the pleasure and comfort it brings. Thanks so very much, a wonderful legacy for Buster and Alfie and a simply lovely process to have gone through with you to design and create this work of personal art.”

Where will it go after the Chelsea Show?

The weathervane will be seen potentially by millions of people at the Chelsea flower show, and those watching the Dog Garden from the comfort of their own homes… but what will happen to it when the show finishes and the gardens are taken down? We can’t wait to see where this little piece of craftsmanship ends up next…

Exclusive Competition

To celebrate our piece at RHS Chelsea, we're having a competition. To enter, simply comment on our Facebook post, Instagram post or on this blog, telling us what you'd like to see in a garden designed with your dog (past or present!) in mind. The winner will be drawn at random, and will recieve a Dog themed hanging basket bracket worth £75 featuring a breed of their choosing, hand forged by Black Fox Metalcraft.