The garden seating offers so much more.
Benching can serve as a focal piece, a sculpture that punctuates a lawn or hedge, or a spot to take in a beautiful view. Seating in the garden can create privacy, or it can serve as a place to entertain friends and family.
Garden seating is the core of any garden. Do we forget that? Over the past year, I have seen many gardens with their seating areas. The benches, tables and chair we select make a big difference in the garden.
Spending money is not necessary
My mother bought some of the garden chairs we have in 1970s at an auction. They have needed to be repaired from time-to-time.
The four chairs were purchased in a Depot vente and we drove them back on the top of our car. If you add the additional petrol costs of driving from South of France back to England, I doubt they were a good deal.
Auctions and junk stores can provide garden furniture. But you should consider the materials that were used to make it, rather than its intended use.
Create atmosphere with garden furniture color
Colours can make all the difference in creating a relaxing atmosphere.
Martyn’s design for BBC Gardeners World Live. Bright orange chairs and table really make a statement in this garden. If the furniture in the garden was a different colour, it would create a very different atmosphere.
Yasmin Hossain has a dusky pink set of table and chairs in her courtyard. Juniper & Bliss is a company that specialises in coloring natural fabrics with plant colors. It’s really pretty.
Wenche imink sprays’Wet & Forget’ on her furniture for a Nordic-inspired look. Links to Amazon may be affiliate links. This means that I will receive a small commission if you purchase through these links. However, it does not affect your price. The links on this page are affiliate. )
Gardening author Francine Ray of Kitchen Garden Hens painted all her outdoor furniture yellow or gray to match the home, which has yellow bricks and grey tiles. Pink cushions reflected the nearby pink roses.
Consider your benches when you are planting.
Maybe it is the opposite? When choosing a colour for your garden bench, consider the plants you plan to use.
The colour of the hydrangeas is echoed by a pretty bench in blue outside the backdoor at Doddington Place Garden.
The bench at Whitstable’s Open Gardens is painted with stripes of red and orange, the exact shades as the flowers that are in the background. Is it just a coincidence, or was this planned?
Doddington Place Gardens has a blue bench and hydrangeas in the garden.
A purple bench in Sussex Prairie Gardens. Sussex Prairie Gardens benches are inspiring in their way that they complement the plants.
Furniture and Architecture for the Garden
Your garden furniture can be designed to reflect your home’s architecture.
Edward Lutyens designed the Salutation at Sandwich. The garden benches, of course, are also Lutyens! Lutyens lived between late 19th century and the early 20th century.
A Lutyens Bench would look great near almost any type of home.
The Lutyens Bench in Mel and Emma’s Garden (from Whitstable Open Gardens), makes for a lovely seating area next to a meadow patch. A long, thin garden is located behind a Victorian home.
The garden seating is a great focal point
Bench or seating areas in the garden can be a focal point of a whole garden or a specific area.
If you want to create a focal area in your garden, or if there are many trees along a path, a bench is the perfect solution. It can also be used as a seating space. At Doddington Place Gardens
You need focal points for every garden size. Pheasant farm, below, has a garden of less than an acre but several focal areas.
The garden at Pheasant Farm (open to the NGS on appointment) features a garden bench.
The lavender is highlighted by a very attractive Gothic bench at Pheasant Farm’s front garden.
Two stone benches are used as the focal point for either side of the border. The benches can become a little overgrown, but they look much better in the center.\
Seating for the garden as sculpture
Some garden benches provide a place to relax and chat while sipping a beverage. You don’t have to read a book on them. You can take a chance on a design that looks exciting to add sculptural appeal to your winter garden.