Great Garden Benches

My parents used to spend two weeks every summer at one rented cottage or another. They were often in the Fenelon Falls, Ontario area, and my memories of that time, while somewhat fuzzy, are also warm.

When I was six my uncle bought a cottage not too far out of Huntsville, Ontario and we started spending our summers there. I loved it and hated to leave. Each night we had a bonfire with wood gathered from the forest all around us.

There were two benches, very simple affairs, basically a plan about six inches wide, two deep and six long fastened to two logs about two feet high and a foot in diameter. I am guessing at the sizes but that is what my memory offers.

My father and uncle hammered them together. We sat and enjoy the fire, toast marshmallows and bake potatoes right in the coals. My enjoyment of a good bench dates back to those days.

I view a bench as a temporary sitting place, a spot, hopefully quiet to enjoy the view, feel the sun and smell the roses. Over the years I have sat and contemplated my surrounding and my place in the universe on a wide variety of benches across Canada.

In the home garden, the purpose of the bench remains the same, a quiet spot to sit and watch the garden grow; to enjoy the birds and bees just doing their thing. You can get a garden bench that rocks or is made from recycled plastic called polywood. They come in a variety of colours and sizes and are designed to enhance yoru garden décor.

Of course, if you would prefer you can buy a traditional wood bench or one that is made from cast aluminum. The choice is yours.

The ideal garden setting is near a water feature such as a pond or in a quiet corner near your favourite flowers. I see the bench not as the place I sit and read but where I sit and immerse myself in the surroundings.

The meditation garden is a great site for a wooden bench, on with a good back support so that you can sit without feeling any lower back pain for an hour or so. Perhaps, the butt test is the best way to judge a bench, as I said; I see benches as short term sitting places, and so if you can sit on one for 50 minutes without your butt hurting, then it is fine.

The garden bench enhances the quiet place in your garden, the getaway spot where you sit and just be.