Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

In this modern 21^st century, the words “honor” and “appreciation” can sometimes be seen as old-fashioned values. When loved ones receive an invitation to spend time at your home, it is their initial impression that sets the stage. With the help of an arbor or trellis – that may double as a comfortable bench or flourishing planter – family and friends feel special with the arched entryway that gently leads them in.

An Invitation to Admire:  A trellis is known as an architectural structure typically made from different pieces of wood, bamboo, or metal to guide the growth of a climbing plant. An arbor is similar to a pergola – except they tend to be smaller and act as a outdoor archway instead of a shielding patio roof. By adding either of these structures to your outdoor area, a yard becomes a curated space that etches itself into the memory of all visitors.

Lattice and Benches and Gates, Oh My! To take it a step further, outfit your cedar arbor with lattice and attached benches, or make it an arbor with gates, to add lateral personality to the design. Like a exterior foyer, arbors with benches or a fence section of the space. Guests can sit and take in the elements or converse about the hard work that has been put into design your personal landscape.

Flourishing Plant life:  While many different kinds of plants can be trained to grow up a trellis, some of the most popular flower choices for arbors and trellises are snapdragon, trumpet vine, wisteria, morning glory, kiwi vine, and canary creeper. Although metal trellises are beautiful and ornate, they should be avoided with more tender plants – such as sweet peas, beans and morning glory – since they heat up with the sun and can actually stunt plant growth.

Nothing says magical and creative like an outdoor archway with budding vines or trellis blooming in spring. Create an exquisite invitation to your home that leaves a lasting impression by including any variation of an arbor or trellis to your outdoor space.

Tags: arbor, arbor with gates, arbors and trellises, arbors with benches, cedar arbor, metal trellises, outdoor archway, pergola, planter, trellis

It’s interesting, the way that people tend to make associations about things.  Sometimes, it can involve colors; everyone develops ideas about which ones go together, and, before they know it, they have these unbreakable, personal rules.  That’s not really a good thing, because it can get them into a rut.  What’s even worse is when they take the advice of so-called experts who tell them what goes with what, and end up adopting someone else’s senseless views as their own. 

The same is true for food and beverage pairings.  While, undoubtedly, these usually stem from our own preferences, they are also notoriously dictated by self-proclaimed authorities who profess to have educated palates.  Unfortunately, these blowhards are everywhere, telling us, for example, that there’s only one specific wine that simply must accompany a certain dish, and if you serve anything else, you belong in a doghouse.

Sometimes, we relate things to particular seasons, and can’t envision them in any other context.  Garden structures, for instance, have long been connected almost exclusively to the warm-weather months.  While they have always looked spectacular in the spring and summer, covered with colorful climbing flowers and vines, pergolas, arbors, and trellises were often left looking forlorn and lifeless in the winter, standing dejectedly in a corner, entwined with a few dead branches.

Luckily, however, this practice is also becoming out-dated, as millions more people each year are realizing that their garden pergolas, planter benches, trellis screens, arbors, and arbor extensions can be fantastically integrated with their holiday displays.  In fact, in many cases, these structures, as well as planter trellises, garden bridges, and, of course, gazebos, can even be the main attractions, when adorned with strings of lights, holly, tinsel, and other ornaments.

Even beyond the New Year – in the time that’s known as the dead of winter – outdoor structures can bring new life to your landscape and brighten your outdoor décor.  Moreover, there’s no standard way to use them; they lend themselves to creativity, so you can show off your own, individual style.

Remember, the only rule that everyone really should live by is the Golden Rule. 

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: arbor, bridge, gazebo, outdoor structure, pergola, planter, trellis

You have tons of options for designing your garden.  On top of the endless varieties of flowers, plants, trees, and shrubs, there are countless types of mulch, as well as decorative rocks, stones, and gravel, in every color imaginable.  Selecting from among them can be difficult and time-consuming; in fact, it may take so long that you could actually miss planting season. 

When everything on that lengthy list, from the necessities, to the accessories, is finally planned, picked out, planted, and placed, you can begin to make decisions about the ideal garden structures to complement your motif.  Once again, you’ll have an incredible assortment from which to choose. 

This, however, does not have to be a long, wearying process, if you know where to look; and that, of course, is right here at CedarStore.com.  Our unparalleled collection of cedar, treated pine, vinyl, polywood, and wrought iron backyard structures includes arbors, trellises, pergolas, and garden bridges, in dozens of sizes, and styles that range from simple, to sensational.   

For example, along with our plain arbors, we have arbors with gates, swings, benches, and extensions.  If you want more than a basic trellis, you can choose an elegant planter trellis, a garden obelisk, a classic five-spoke trellis, or a single, double, or triple garden screen.  We also have planter benches with lattice backs.            

Our equally-impressive array of garden pergolas features free-standing and attached pergolas, as well as pergolas with built-in benches.  You can even use our Custom Pergola Creator to craft a maintenance-free vinyl pergola , or a decay-resistant wood pergola, to your specifications. 

Of course, nothing will give your landscape a lift like a garden bridge; and we have several styles including plank, single and double rail, picket and half-picket rail, as well as captivating covered bridges that you can customize right on our site.  This is also the only place you’ll find the spectacular Opti-Breeze™ Bridge, which is bound to astound, as its dazzling design induces a delightfully deceptive optical illusion that will throw your eyeballs a tantalizing curve.     

This is truly something that you have to see to believe.  Really, you won’t be able to get over it!  Or, uh, I mean, of course, you’ll be able to get over it; after all, it is a bridge.  However, since it’s so hard to describe, I’ll just say that it puts the focus on hocus pocus!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: arbor, bridge, pergola, trellis

Trellises, arbors, and pergolas have been popular since ancient times; and it’s not difficult to understand why.  In the spring and summer, bursting with colorful mantles of climbing flowers and vines, they can bring an enchanting, exciting, and aromatic aura to any setting.  They make striking focal points, and attractive camouflage for unsightly landscape features, and can be used, along with planter benches with latticed backs, to create separate outdoor rooms, or cozy backyard hideaways.   

This time of the year, however, with Halloween quickly approaching, it’s even more fun to use them to enhance the eeriness of the occasion.  For example, you can string them with orange lights to create a truly bewitching effect (especially if the lights are twinkling).  On an arbor over your front walk, this is a fun and spooky way to greet trick-or-treaters and party guests.  If you have a gated arbor, or an arbor with extensions, cover the entire thing.  To conjure up an atmosphere that’s even more magical, decorate nearby patio furniture, such as garden benches, porch swings, lounge chairs, and picnic tables, as well. 

Along with plain lights, you can also use strings of light-up ghosts, skulls, or jack-o-lanterns, which can be found in most retail or Halloween specialty stores.  To make things a bit scarier, hang a skeleton, ghost, witch, or “dead body” from the arbor.  You can even rig it with a wire or rope so that you can raise it up, out of sight, and let it drop suddenly, in front of some sweet, unsuspecting, innocent little child coming to get some candy (that’s always a hoot!). 

Other items that are suitable for hanging are fake spiders and spider webs, which are available in abundance this time of year.  A few phony bats dangling from an arbor, trellis, or pergola, will also help to give ‘em some goose bumps.  If you’re having a backyard Halloween party, you can also use trellises to conceal fog machines, or boom boxes or speakers that are supplying spine-chilling sound or light effects. 

Indeed, these backyard structures are great, throughout the year, for so many things besides displaying beautiful, flourishing flowers and foliage.  In fact, it’s quite appropriate that, in many parts of the country, the flora will be dead by the end of October; it will only add to the delightful creepiness of it all.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: arbor, Arbors, Outdoor Furniture, patio furniture, pergola, Pergolas, trellis, trellises

Speaking of fast-growing plants, vines are among the most well-known of this ilk.  They are natural climbers with the ability to spread upward, as well as outward.  Although they can be stealthy, and even dangerous, when left to roam free, they can be utterly enchanting when cloaking arbors and trellises.

Of course, that depends upon whether it’s a perennial, evergreen, herbaceous, deciduous, or woody vine.  Of these different varieties, which can be either sun- or shade-loving, some climb by way of those familiar, grasping tendrils, while others have petioles (little leafstalks that wind around their hosts), or small, adhesive discs that stick to supportive surfaces. 

Because of their tenacity and rapid proliferation, vines are often used to cover up flaws or unsightly features in landscapes.  Moreover, a gang of them can magically transform a plain little shanty into a charming ivy-covered cottage.  

Obviously, vines fall into the category of plants that can easily and successfully be cultivated even by beginning gardeners.  Morning glories are exceptionally popular, as they grow very quickly, and come in a range of striking colors.  In fact, if you want to give the impression of being a gardening whiz, with a bit of landscape artist thrown in, train them up some strategically-placed trellises, arbors, and pergolas.  They will add color, height, and structure to any yard or garden; and you can use them to define separate areas in large outdoor living spaces.  

Other knockout ways of using climbing vines and flowers include displaying them on planter trellises, two- and three-paneled garden screens, garden obelisks, planter benches with lattice backs, and arbors with gates, swings, and extensions.  Naturally, we have all of the above, in cedar, pine, vinyl, polywood, and wrought iron, right here at CedarStore.com.    

With our unparalleled selection, I guess you could say that, when it comes to trellises and arbors, we’re in the ivy league.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

         We spend a lot of time discussing more popular products, such as gazebos, pergolas and picnic tables.  Today, I want to give some love to a few unique products that you may have never seen, much less considered adding to your backyard or garden design.

          Trees may be beautiful, but they can also limit the space of your backyard design.   A quick solution that several public parks and schools have utilized is a Tree Bench.  The bench wraps around the tree, forming a sitting area for several people.  The tree bench can be made of Cedar, Pine and even Teak.

         Planter Benches are the perfect boundary of any garden.  A pair of planter boxes on each side, help support the bench.  The lattice on the back adds a nice back support and looks great.  In fact, we now offer a double planter bench which forms an “L”.  My son described it as “way cool,” and I agree…like totally way cool! 

As a side note, (and very beneficial to you!), now through March 31st, we are offering $25 off any Planter Purchase of $150 or more!  Enter Promotional Code PLANTER in the shopping cart. 

          We’ve also combined the want for garden benches, porch swings and the want for a wooden arbor.  CedarStore.com has an Imperial Arbor with a garden bench and 4’ porch swing already built in.  And, just for a little decorative “icing on the cake”, we’ve created an arched top, too.  The treated pine arbor is a great center piece to a flower garden, or even a stand alone in your back yard.  Sit with the grand kids, or hide from life while inside the Imperial arbor.  Definitely, my favorite of the little known products!

          If you’re looking for deck furniture, I would recommend a few Adirondack chairs, or perhaps a wall mounted pergola!  We get a lot of questions about being able to attach a pergola to the house, and the answer is a simple: yes.  We’ll talk more about wall mounted pergolas in our future blogs. 

          As always, if you’d like us to address a topic in a future blog, just let us know via email (contact@cedarstore.com) or by leaving a comment.  We’re always happy to discuss a project, or offer our advice.  After twenty years in business, and 10 years online, we’ve seen it all!

Have a great day!

Shari

Tags: Arbors, Pergolas, Planter Benches, Planters, Tree Benches

Despite it being March, the temperatures here on the east coast are still cold.  In fact, if I see one more snow flake, I’ll start rooting for global warming.  Since it is March, I do know that Spring is not far away (which means summer and bathing suits are close, too…maybe snow is good). 

The first thing you must do this Spring is organize your wish list.  Is this the year to decorate the garden with a few odds and ends, or is this the year you add a cedar garden bench, Adirondack chair and canopy gazebo?    Is this the year to just plant a few flowers, or finally lay down a rock bed and a cedar garden bridge? 

Spring is the time of optimism and a Can-Do attitude.  Make a list of your Do-It-Yourself backyard projects.  Circle your favorite, and immediately get to work!  The longer you wait, the closer August gets.  “I should have…” is never a good statement.

You can organize your list in two ways—most important or in order of easily accomplished.  Some people like to start with a couple small items, build some momentum, and then tackle the big one.  Not me!  Bring on the challenge!  I’ll do it now, while I’ve got the energy and desire to get it done.  If I do a few small projects, I’ll take time off and never get back to the real projects.

CedarStore.com presents the best of both worlds.  The projects appear large, such as a Vinyl Pergola, but really, they’re built in only a few hours.  The same goes for the cedar and treated pine arbors.  Spend half a day building the arbor, the other half placing hanging vines or flower pots, and call it a day! 

Another idea is to start the season with a storage shed.  Maybe Cedar Log for that rustic look?  Maybe a vinyl shed for its longevity and economical cost?  Starting with a shed gives you a chance to store all the tools for your upcoming projects in one place, and out of your way! 

Or you may just decide; no work for me!  Add a few pieces of outdoor patio furniture, relax, recline and reset. 

The most important thing is to enjoy the journey! 

Shari 

Tags: adirondack chair, Arbors, garden bridge, outdoor patio furniture, Sheds, Spring Cleaning

Garden design has come a long way since rabbit fences and gazing balls!  If you’re the serious green thumb sort, you’ve learned how to find enjoyment in weeding and tilling.  For most of us though, the garden is meant as an area of relaxation and tranquility.  Also, there is a coupon code at the bottom for those of you who make it all the way through!

One of my new favorite additions to garden design is the red cedar Marquis Arbor from CedarStore.com.  What better way to relax in your garden than on a cedar porch swing supported by a Cedar Arbor.  Water the tomatoes then sit back with a good book and a glass of wine.  Or, if you really have the time, a trashy novel and two glasses of wine.  It’s all good! 

Another option is the White Cedar Planter Bench w/ Lattice, also available at CedarStore.com.  Extra room for flowers meets relaxing bench in this little gem.  Add your favorite plants to the boxes, and sit in between.  Or, use the boxes as storage!  The white cedar is also a nice touch, as it weathers well, and has a smooth finish.  The unit makes a nice boundary to your garden and is attractive, too. 

Potting benches, Planters and a few really decorative bird feeders can also add much to your design.  They are good ways to break up a monotonous layout and attracting birds is always a nice touch.

A few of our customers who have wanted shaded relaxation near their garden have opted for a small gazebo.  Cedar gazebos start at just $2779, Treated Pine gazebos at $2199, and Vinyl gazebos kick off at $3699.  The added comfort of a roof makes the gazebo a great place to relax, have coffee and chat with friends.  You can view a few of our customer’s finished gazebo projects here!

Garden Design isn’t just for those who have high end gardens.  It’s for everyone who enjoys getting out of the house, feeling the sunshine and doing more than watching Jerry Springer!  Hopefully, a few of the products at CedarStore.com will enhance your experience.  Now, here’s your coupon code: BLOG20.  This discount code will entitle you to $20 off your next purchase of $200 or more.

I hope you have an amazing day!

Shari

Tags: arbor, gazebo, planter

Setting up for an Outdoor Wedding is one of our favorite projects.  Typically, a bride’s parents call us months in advance to plan their daughter’s big day.  Many moms have always dreamed a picturesque gazebo in the backyard, or a quaint bridge over a small creek.  Adding a gazebo or bridge to an outdoor wedding is a nice touch of class that includes excellent functionality!

What Gazebo is Best?

Let’s begin with which gazebos are best.  Octagon gazebos are the most traditional—add decorative braces, turned posts and decorative railings and you have a little piece of Victorian Heaven.

For larger outdoor wedding parties, and larger amounts of guests, I’d recommend a longer rectangular or oval gazebo.  We can increase the width of the opening, creating a stage-like entrance for the big day!  The material you choose should match your house and surroundings…in other words, a white vinyl siding house can easily add a white vinyl gazebo. 

I remember one project—A mother called us on a Tuesday, wanting a large gazebo for her daughter’s wedding on Saturday!  And she needed it built on site by our crew…No problem! (Well it was a problem, but she was so frantic, we didn’t have the heart to tell her we moved Heaven and Earth!).  So, our crew drove 12 hours to her house Friday night…and finished the gazebo just before noon Saturday morning, as the caterers were setting up and guests were arriving! 

No one can ever say we’re not dedicated! 

Outdoor Bridges

Another popular outdoor wedding accessory that has served families well is a simple pedestrian bridge.  As you can see in the picture above, it creates a unique landscape and creates a nice separation of the activities.  The pedestrian bridges are so easy to build that a couple people should take no longer than a couple hours to complete the project…though we don’t recommend waiting until the morning of the wedding to start! 

Other Outdoor Wedding Options

Some families who don’t want a large gazebo have opted to use a pergola entrance to the wedding area.  Our Kingston Arbor just seems to fit well.  It’s wide enough to fit most red carpets and bridal trains, but decorative enough to instantly set a tone of elegance and class.  

The outdoor additions make a unique setting for wedding photos and create a unique environment, all at a cost less than many couples must spend on large halls!  Call CedarStore.com for assistance, 1-888-293-2339.

Tags: arbor, bridge, gazebo, pergola