Garden Benches

If your idea of a garden bench is the plain wood-slat bench in the library park, we've got some new ideas for you. An inviting place to rest will enhance any garden, but beside a pond, waterfall, or aromatic garden, a comfortable quality bench is a must.

Bench material

Wood probably the most common bench material and is cost-effective and attractive enough for any garden style. Wood is flexible and therefore more comfortable than stone or concrete. It can also be quite durable -- a good teak bench can last some twenty years outdoors. Styles range from rustic log benches with the bark and lichen still attached to finely-crafted teak seating. For benches or any garden furniture made of tropical wood such as teak or mahogany, be sure the trees used were planation grown, rather than rainforest harvested, to reduce environmental impact. If you're making your own bench, avoid railroad ties. However clean they look, every one of them has absorbed tar and will eventually leak onto your clothes.

Concrete is one of the least expensive and most versetile materials, providing a wide selection of colors and shapes. Also available are benches with concrete legs, but wooden slab seats. What concrete lacks, though, is durability and comfort.

Stone, such as marble, is somewhat more expensive, but lasts longer and offers a more classic look. Both concrete and stone seating can make elegant, statue-like accent pieces.

Stainless steel benches present a clean, industrial look. The downside is that after a few hours in the sun, they can become too hot to sit on!

Bench styles

The style of bench you choose depends on your tastes. A match set will look best, unless you’ve developed areas/rooms within the garden. Professionally-made garden furniture not only looks better, but lasts longer than one constructed without the proper tools and material. Not to say you should make your own, but consider what you want from the bench before you start a DIY project. What size do you need? A 4-foot bench will easily seat one person and two people if they sit close together. For a little more breathing room, a 5-foot bench is better. Also consider shape -- benches come with and without backs, as well as with backs and seats contured for extra comfort. Curved benches designed to fit under a tree are also made. Taking a little time to look into what's available and you won’t settle for less than what you really want or go over budget.

Choosing a quality garden bench

The material determines the life-span and comfort level of the bench. Durable woods include teak, cedar, cypress, and redwood. Pine, although inexpensive, won't last long. Metal benches should feel heavy and solidly constructed. On a wooden bench the fewer the fewer screws and bolts, the better. Look instead for mortise-and-tenon joinery. A cedar bench will last five years, while a teak bench can easily last twenty years even in hard conditions. Natually, the more durable the more expensive, but there is a limit -- with benches over $1000 you're paying for design more than construction or material. Also consider where you'll get the bench -- buy one pre-assembled, buy a kit, or make one from scratch? Often a kit offers professional craftsmanship, but saves money over a pre-assembled piece and saves time over a DIY project.

Unique bench ideas

Semi-circular benches designed to encompass trees can also be used to encompass a large pot of aromatic flowers or herbs, a statue or gazing ball on a pedestal, or any other raised piece of garden decor.

Placing a bench in a niche gives it a secluded feeling, but also highlights it as a focal point. A similar effect can be acheived with a trellis bench (either the bench and trellis as one peice or two seperate pieces) placed either against a wall in a corner of the garden. If you don't want a full trellis, a half trellis or latticework on only one side of the bench will work, as well. A pole or strip of lattice work (depending on the type of vine you plan to grow. See Trailing Plants and Climbing Vines) placed beside the bench will create a place for aromatic climbing plants like honeysuckle or climing roses, and for a hook with a windchime.

An inexpensive plain wooden bench can be dressed up and designed to fit your garden either by simply staining the wood or painting in (a solid color, or sponge-painting ivy, cat paw-prints, etc) to suit your garden.

To give extra support to a backless bench, place the bench against a raised bed wall that can be used as a back, then place aromatic or edible plants in the bed behind the bench.

For a personal touch, add a brass plaque with a title -- your family's name and the date, a favorite quote, a wedding anniversery, etc. Often the shop selling the bench will add this for free or at minimal cost.