Seating makes the Garden

Why?

• Seating draws you into the garden — alone or with the whole family — so you’ll spend time relaxing outdoors, maybe actually enjoying your property!
• Seating provides a spot from which you can observe your garden and dream up new design ideas.
• Seating for two is romantic, or friendly, or both.
• Having seating encourages you to take a break, which is a good idea every 30-45 minutes or so, regardless of age (you kids aren’t as fit as you used to be, you know).

With all these obvious benefits and probably others I’m forgetting, I find it shocking how many of my coaching clients have no seating whatsoever on their property. So the point of this page is to encourage them — and readers everywhere — to buy some chairs. They can be cheap like most of mine or even cheaper via Freecycle — just get some!

Some styles and materials

While there are many styles to choose from, Adirondack chairs (photo right) are my favorites because they’re incredibly comfortable — especially if you also use a foot stool — and the period look is perfect with my 1925 Sears bungalow. But get this — those arms are so wide and flat, there’s no need for a side table for your drink! Darn perfect chair if you ask me. These were made from cheap white pine that I painted my favorite outdoor color, and cost about $110 online from Tidewater Workshop, some assembly required. Soft woods like pine will occasionally suffer a gouge or crack and I’ve patched a hole or two in the 8 years I’ve had them. Still, I consider them an amazing value.

On the left you see the chaise longe and dining set I bought 11 years ago at Home Depot, all for well under a grand, and they’re holding up just fine.

Folding beach chairs DO look beachy but you know when they come in handy around the garden? For extra guests, or for viewing your garden from different angles. No kidding, I do this all the time.

This teak bench has sat here in the woods for 25 years and still has a nice smooth finish despite my never having done anything to it — I swear. It weathered to this nice natural look and just stayed that way. It costs more ($350 back in ’86) and I thought it was worth it – til I discovered years later that most teak is harvested unsustainably.