Garden benches should be part of any gardener’s yard for many reasons. Firstly, they’re a place to stop or pause as you meander through the floral displays and take in your surroundings. Plus, they’re a great focal point of any garden drawing the visitors eye towards it and defining the landscape.
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Sure, you probably thought that a garden bench was just a garden bench. But they’re not. In fact, they’re far more than a cheap seat plonked in your garden becuase you felt like you needed one. They should be a work of art. A way to express your garden and continue the theme throughout it.
So, before you head down to your local big-box garden store take a look at these six garden benches and see if you can’t get inspired to add one of them to your landscape.
Wrought Iron Garden Benches
The classic wrought-iron bench typifies old-world charm. You can imagine it set against a backyard of heirloom roses, lavender shrubs spilling around its borders and a hedge of pittosporum framing the picture. The reason it’s a classic is due to its longevity. The wrought iron will withstand years of abuse no matter what extremes the weather will throw at it and they will outlast cast iron garden benches because they’re welded together and not screwed.
Wooden Garden Benches
Wooden garden benches are by far the most popular. They’re usually cheaper than wrought iron, sturdier than cast iron varieties and offer the garden a more natural looking piece of outdoor furniture. Plus, after years of being weather-beaten they take on a charm distinctly their own.
To keep your wooden garden bench in pristine condition start by buying one made from durable hardwood. Then, at the start of spring, and again at the start of autumn, coat it with a layer of furniture oil to protect it. If your garden bench is a painted one then make sure that no flakes of paint are falling away as this will only increase its chances of an early demise.
Stone Garden Benches
Most people who choose a stone garden bench do so for its durability and its natural looking features. Sure, you could opt for a concrete bench instead but these manufactured replicas look just like that – a replica.
Stone has a presence about it that most other garden benches don’t possess. Firstly, it looks as heavy as it is which demonstrates that it’s not going to move, or fall, any time soon. Plus, its timeless cut has an elegance that is unequalled by any other outdoor bench.
You could build one of these yourself by arranging natural stones on top of each other or you could have it quarried from granite, marble or any other semi-precious rock type.
Garden Bench With Storage
Storage is becoming an issue for most gardeners as property sizes decrease and more people are moving into apartments. In this case a garden bench with storage is a logical option as it “kills two birds with one stone”. Usually made from timber, storage benches are often sold in kit form allowing this furniture piece to be moved anywhere with ease.
However this garden bench is not really an option for leaving outdoors in the garden. It’s more a patio piece that requires shelter from the elements but if maintained well could still last a lifetime.
Concrete Garden Benches
Opting for a concrete garden bench is not a bad choice. While it may never look as defined and classic as a stone bench it does give the owner an option to have it custom made to their own dimensions and specifications. Concrete allows much more freedom in how you want to design a garden bench and still gives the same durability as stone but for a fraction of the cost. The only downside is that most concrete garden benches can’t be moved once they’ve been pre-cast but provided your happy with that outcome it makes sense to opt for this type of bench.
Backless Garden Benches
The one benefit of a backless garden bench is that you aren’t constrained by which way to sit on it. Most benches have a set landscape view that you’re forced to enjoy whereas a backless bench opens the view up 360° and allows you to sit and take all of it in, not just the view straight ahead.
Backless garden benches can be constructed from timber, stone, concrete, recycled plastics – you name it. Just as there is no limit to the views you will enjoy from one of these there are also no limits to what material you construct them from either.
So there you have it – six different garden benches that should offer you some inspiration to see how one will work in your yard.
