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Design Seating into the Landscape

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Seating in the landscape can entice you to actually USE your garden. Even a bland landscape suddenly looks more inviting when you place a rustic bench in the shade or a decorative table with chairs on the patio. Seating under a protective patio cover can extend the useful living space of your home. And seating offers an opportunity to have a picnic, to entertain or to enjoy a meal al fresco. Seating also invites you to use your garden for a quiet spot to read or meditate. Design your seating so you can get the most out of it both practically and aesthetically.

Choose a place in the garden where there is a good view. If you don't have one naturally, plant some interesting trees, shrubs or garden areas that can create your view.

Seating near swimming pools, ponds, and other water features offer opportunities to relax, enjoy these features and to watch children and pets and keep them safe. Seating can be in the form of comfortable lounges, decorative chairs or even seating walls built into the hardscape (permanent structure) of the area.

Another way to use seating in the landscape is to hide it in a private spot that isn't easily seen from other parts of the garden. This creates a secret spot ideal for reading, meditation or just getting away from it all. A hammock or swing would be an ideal choice of furniture.

Since entertaining is high on the list of priorities for many people, you may want to build patios and lawns for social areas that demand seating. Make sure you provide chairs, benches and other seating around eating areas like barbecues and fire pits. Entryways under archways and arbors are perfect places to add seating in the landscape.

Large pieces of property are ideal for spotting seating to create separate 'rooms'. Set a rustic table at a far end of the property for a hike to have a picnic. Or add some wooden chairs to relax in a fruit orchard. You can also use the chair surfaces to set down bags filled with your harvest when it's time to crop the fruit trees. You can get more of these same benefits from offering seating near the vegetable garden.

Have fun choosing furniture to match the design of your garden. Buy designs that will adapt well to how your seating will be used. A little wrought iron ice cream table with chairs tucked away near a small waterfall will make the occasional outdoor lunch irresistible. Just as a country bench padded with cozy outdoor cushions will invite you to sit under the shade of a protecting tree when the weather gets hot.