Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

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

If there’s one good thing about today’s economy, it’s that it is bringing out the resourcefulness in us.  With nearly everyone having to cut back on expenses, millions of people are discovering new abilities, as they’re forced to do jobs for themselves that they have, heretofore, paid others to do for them.

These undertakings can range from the simplest tasks, such as mowing the lawn, to big projects, such as landscaping.  Certainly, more people than ever are struggling to learn not only how to design garden beds, but to actually make things grow.  While this may not sound like a monumental chore to some, it can really feel like an impossible dream to someone whose lack of a green thumb results in a flower bed so pitiful that it stands out like a sore thumb.   

If you’re in that number, don’t despair, because there are many places where you can go to get professional advice, without paying an expert to do the work for you.  Remember – the lack of ability is not a point of shame; the only thing to be embarrassed about is not seeking help.  Why, that would be as silly as driving around lost for hours, instead of simply stopping and asking for directions.  And nobody would be that foolish, right?  (A-hem!).

Getting the help that you need is as simple as going to a nursery or home gardening center, where the employees are generally pretty knowledgeable, and will be happy to answer your questions.  In many cases, for true amateurs (you know, the ones who are green everywhere except their thumbs), they will recommend honing their skills on a container garden.  This is a great idea, and one that many talented, experienced gardeners and landscaping professionals use every day, for large and small areas, in a variety of designs.

Whether you’re new to gardening, or have been growing beautiful flowers and plants for years, you’ll love the great assortment of planters and planter boxes at CedarStore.com.  We’re not talking about any plain, old flowers pots here; we have planter benches, with or without lattice backs, planter trellises, tubs, stands, window boxes, and wheelbarrows.  They also come in a wide range of materials, including decay-resistant woods, such as red and white cedar, treated pine, and cherry, as well as nearly indestructible polywood and thermo-plastic coated steel, which are available in over a dozen striking colors.

So, stop in and see our fantastic selection.  We’re sure you’ll give it a “thumbs up,” no matter what color your thumb may be!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: planter, planter boxes, Planters, trellis

Planters that are overflowing with colorful flowers can make any outdoor space look full, rich, and inviting.  Luckily, there is a huge variety of plants that can really thrive in containers.  Besides potting annuals, perennials, bulbs, and tubers, you can even plant climbing vines, vegetables, herbs, fruits, and even small shrubs and trees, such as miniature alpines, as long as you use the right containers.

At CedarStore.com, you’ll find a great assortment of planters, including planter benches, with or without lattice backs, planter trellises, tubs, stands, window boxes, and wheelbarrows.  You can choose from red and white cedar, cherry wood, metal, and polywood, which is available in several colors.

So, if you’re planning to do a little container gardening, here are some of the basics you need to get started.  Once you decide what you’d like to cultivate, choose a planter that’s large enough to give them room to bloom, and accommodate their roots as they grow, but small enough so that the plant does not get lost in it.  Usually, one that’s about an inch wider in diameter than the root ball will do nicely.  Make sure that the bottom of the container has at least one hole, or is slatted, to keep the roots from drowning; if it has no holes, cover the bottom with a one-inch layer of gravel, or stone or marble chips.

The standard soil for most plants will be composed of one part perlite, one part peat moss or compost, and two parts sterile potting soil.  If you’re growing azaleas, hydrangeas, or other acid-loving plants, or varieties, such as clematis, that flourish in more alkaline conditions, adjust the soil mixture accordingly. 

Give fruiting plants and perennials an initial feeding of high-nitrogen fertilizer, which will encourage faster growth, followed by a high-potassium liquid tomato fertilizer.  It is also recommended that annuals receive a weekly dose of liquid fertilizer; and the same should be given to potted roses and perennials every two to three weeks.  Because most container plants need more water than those grown in the ground, keep an eye on the soil to make sure that it doesn’t get too dry.

If you have any questions about planters, or any of CedarStore.com’s outdoor furniture, outdoor décor, or home accents, you can always call a design consultant or customer service representative, at 888-293-2339.  If you have questions about growing your plants, you’d better ask at a nursery or garden center.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: planter, Planters, tubs, wheelbarrow