Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

Adding some style and comfort to your garden

posted in advice category on 2008-11-10

We often hear “Quality counts but that quality can also be expensive”, but adding mundane or inferior products is ultimately a much more expensive way to spend money. When it comes to selecting quality products for the garden, it pays to invest in well designed and well made products. Design isn't just about looking well, working well is also important, so too durability, compatability, ergonomics etc. As the gardens become more sophisticated outdoor areas, consumers increasingly demand/expect more from garden products.

One of the greatest of pleasures of being in the garden is to lounge around, lie down or just simply hang out. For many relaxing and getting comfortable with family and friends or simply alone is a popular pleasure.

For me, simply sitting in a very comfortable garden seat is a great pleasure and one which I enjoy immensely. No wonder chairs and sun loungers are such critical furniture elements in every garden.

But good furniture is not only well made, robust, and comfortable, good furniture can also be iconic and influence our views on the overall look of the garden. Iconic designs can make a big statement about the overall design.

Garden furniture has evolved from the traditional 'Park Bench' to a much more diverse range of styles, shapes and sizes from a myriad of materials, manufacturing/construction processes from traditional handcrafted to sophisticated manufacturing methods. Garden furniture must not only look and feel good, it must also be very durable and ideally require little or no maintenance. In other words furniture that is comfortable and which can be left outdoors all the time is increasingly popular.

At this point I would like to plug our ‘Orb Swing Seat’ a product which apart from being fantastic looking but is an excellent example of what well designed garden furniture can achieve, and inspire. Being made from pressure treated timbers are weatherproofed means that they can be left outdoors all year. in addition to the quality of manufacturing, they are unashamedly nice examples of garden furniture engineering. On the more pleasurable side they are incredibly good looking and comfortable to sit in. And do they look fantastic? The 'Orb Swing Seat' is a very good example of how well designed garden furniture can not only be iconic but help upgrade the design of your garden.

Plant Tips

Selecting the right plant is not always easy and straightforward, many factors need to be considered when trying to decide. For example, my preference will be influenced by the degree of maintenance a plant might require. Other criteria would include evergreen over deciduous, interesting form and leaf colour, especially important during the dormant season when gardens can be lacking in impact. So it seems a good idea for now to start a list of my favourite plants, provide some plant details/description, growth height and spread, suitable/typical planting positions and any notable features. Hopefully you might find something that will interest you and prove suitable for your garden.

Pieris japonica Katsura

A relative newcomer from Japan to the large Pieris (Forest Flame) assortment. It is evergreen, with striking, deep wine red growing tips. The plant produces clusters of pink flowers with red calyxes in early spring. An ideal ornamental shrub which is perfect in the garden, or in a container for patio/balcony. Position in sun or part shade. It reaches a height of approx. 60-65cm/2’ 0”. Planting in ericaceous compost/soil is recommended and note harmful if eaten.

This plant is definitely one of our favourites and a very popular choice in specimen and block planting schemes.