Creating Seating Areas in Your Garden

Dragonflies, Frogs, Duck Weed and You

No one will even know you're here, tucked behind the elephant ears and umbrella plant. A bench by a water garden serves a unique purpose. Water gardens are relatively low maintenance and there are stretches of time when you barely notice them because you're so busy weeding elsewhere. A well-placed bench lets you pause and enjoy an ecosystem so unlike the rest of your garden in its plants, insects, and animals.​

Secluded, Cool and Probably Never Used

You might get the feeling this garden bench doesn't see much action because it's being taken over by the plants. Still, it looks inviting, doesn't it?

You can include seating areas in tucked-away sections of the garden. Even if you don't get a chance to sit for a couple of years, one day you stumble on it with fresh eyes, after the initial plantings fill in and integrate themselves in the setting, and it becomes your favorite spot.

Garden Seating Doesn't have to be Secretive or Subtle

This is a very elaborate and evolving garden and the seating is intentionally conspicuous, almost park-like. It's a destination from the house and sits on its own little slab right smack in the middle of the garden beds. It's a place to view the garden or just enjoy it with a glass of wine.

There's No Reason Seating Can't be a Focal Point of the Garden

Functional doesn't have to mean boring. Seating that's meant for convenience can also add character and color to the garden. This series of blue Adirondack chairs are in a good vantage point and are quite comfortable. But it's the color that makes them so perfect for this cool green location.

Who Needs Flowers?

It's color again that makes these vintage metal chairs a focal point in this shady nook. It's hard to have a shade garden with colorful blooms all season unless you cheat a little and use colorful ornaments or chairs like these. Using vintage furniture also gives your garden a sense of age, even if you only planted it last year.

The Romance of a Garden Seating Area

There's a reason wrought iron lawn furniture is so popular and it's not comfort. Wrought iron works well in gardens with a cottagey feel. The material is rustic and usually in some state of rusting. It suits the surroundings and doesn't look like it will be harmed by a muddy boot or sudden shower.

Don't be hemmed in by fads. Use what you like. If you like the look of weathered rust, the practicality of molded resin or retro chic webbing, in a few years, they'll all be classics.

Freshness to the Extreme

Here's function for you: put your seating within picking distance of your vegetables. A fresh salad is literally within reach.

It's rare to see a seat in a vegetable patch. Vegetable gardens aren't often ornamental. We go in, pick what we need and head back to the kitchen. What a treat to eat or relax in the midst of the aromas of basil and tomatoes.

Not Your Average Stone Bench

Just try and keep the kids off these hands. These are not chairs for an afternoon nap, but they bring this part of the garden alive. Sometimes garden decorations and benches can begin to look the same from one garden to the next. Seeking out locally-made products or flea market finds can yield some very unusual garden treasures.

Blurring the Lines Between House and Garden

Now here's seating that's meant to be used. Whether for a moment alone to collect your thoughts or to share a pitcher of lemonade with a couple of friends, there is nothing as accessible as a few chairs clustered around a small patio table and surrounded by overflowing flower pots and borders. You barely have to leave the house to enter your garden.

It's Your Garden. Make Yourself Comfortable

There's no confusion about what this bench is used for, and that's comfort and relaxation. Even in a small city yard, there's always room for some comfort and escape. To create shade, install an umbrella or plant a small tree.

The Chair as Art

Sometimes seating serves no function besides its aesthetic appeal to the gardener. Or maybe someone took the seat out of this chair as a subtle reminder to keep working.