Garden Furniture

It is said of the weather:

Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

The weather however, has a critical role to play in deciding what type of furniture is appropriate for your garden. Thankfully your options are not limited. From wood, to plastic to rattan, you have a choice, depending on how exposed to the elements your furniture will be.

Then of course there is the matter of personal aesthetics. Practical as plastic is, it might not be what you want for your garden – that is, if you are not too bothered about the loss of tropical forests in achieving that look!

Garden furniture is also described as patio furniture comprising four or six chairs, a table and ideally a parasol. Garden parasols are of a particular kind and come as part of the garden table. Patio heaters are another consideration, when you want to enjoy an evening outdoor in cold weather. Another nice touch when it comes to garden furniture is a picnic table to enjoy a repast under the sky.

Plastic garden furniture has its obvious merits; it is water proof, but has other issues to contend with such as the difficulty to clean. Rainwater collecting in plastic furniture is something to watch out for.
Aluminum is also a material that is long lasting and durable, but if the coating is eaten away, aluminium can rust fast outdoors.

Metal is a further option with new colored metals available, providing durable and brilliant options for your garden. Remember though to keep metal garden furniture out of the sun as it could get hot very quickly.

Wrought iron has been a long standing choice in gardens, but possibly a more expensive option, even though extremely hardy, and handsome. Rattan provides a natural alternative, but today a lot of the rattan is made synthetically making it highly durable and economical, whilst still looking natural!

The most natural choice of course would be wood; again there are no shortage of options with cypress, redwood, cedar and teak being the more popular options. The reasons for selecting teak are many, its ability to withstand the 3M’s –mold, mildew and moisture is a big factor when choosing garden furniture. It is also the reason it has been used to build boats for centuries!

However there is one over riding consideration when choosing your garden furniture. Comfortable and pretty though it might look, is it contributing to the loss of tropical forest cover, somewhere? As we are beginning to find out, over one fourth of carbon emission could be averted by preserving our tropical forests.

This is in addition to the wildlife that loses its natural habitat and disappears off the face of the earth and the humans that are also forced to relocate when tropical forest cover is lost. Increasingly there are ways to check this. In the U.S you could ask for a Forest Stewardship Council certification to make sure that when you enjoy your garden furniture, you also get to sleep easy!