All Outdoor Patio Furniture

As I believe I’ve mentioned a time or two (hundred!), every year, millions of people turn their yards, porches, decks, patios, and gazebos into outdoor living rooms.  This has been going on for quite some time now; and it doesn’t appear that the trend will ever end.  In fact, it’s reaching new heights, as these exterior spaces are also being made into outdoor kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, game rooms, guest rooms, and just about any other type of room you can name.

If you’re trying your hand at this kind of landscaping, and you have a large area to develop, it may be difficult to know where to begin.  That’s no wonder, because it’s like trying to decorate a house that doesn’t have walls or ceilings.  Wait a minute.  Like that?  No.  It is that!  After all, without walls and ceilings, it’s not a house; it’s a yard.  So, there you are.

Still, you can approach the task as if you’re remodeling the inside of your home.  All you need is some structure; or, rather, structures, as in, the garden varieties.  Yes, you can use garden structures, such as trellises, arbors, and pergolas, to define your outdoor rooms, and then work on each section as a single, manageable project.

Start by determining how much space you have, and how many outdoor rooms you want.  Make sure that they will all be large enough to suit the functions that you have in mind for them.  Otherwise, you may have to give up a room, or design one for dual purposes, as you don’t want things getting too crowded.

A dining area should be spacious enough for, at least, a grill, a picnic table (or outdoor dining table), some patio chairs, and a few accent tables.  To add more privacy or shade around a pool, place some trellises in key locations, leaving an adequate expanse of grass open for playing lawn games.  If you want just a quiet little retreat, you may need only a remote corner of your yard.

If you already have a gazebo, pool house, cabana, or sunroom, use it as a focal point, and build around it, tailoring the other areas to specific uses.  You can use anything, from a simple trellis, to a paneled garden screen, depending upon the degree of isolation, and the style, that you desire.  Even if you have limited space, one carefully-chosen piece, such as a gated arbor with a swing, or a double planter bench with a lattice back, can instantly become a miniature haven.

Actually, you can have a lot more fun – and a lot more freedom – designing rooms in your backyard, than you do when working within the confines of your house.  For one thing, having trellises as walls lets you change the size of an area any time you wish.  Moreover, with patio furniture now available in so many styles and colors, there are tons of decorating options as well.

Of course, you’ll also be able to select from thousands of varieties of gorgeous climbing flowers, which will surround you with color, and bring your outdoor rooms to life.  So, I guess that would make them living rooms, in the truest sense.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: accent tables, arbor with a swing, Arbors, cabana, double planter bench, gazebo, grill, outdoor dining table, paneled garden screen, patio chairs, patio furniture, Pergolas, picnic table, Pool house, sunroom, trellis, trellises

Our guest post this week is by Debbie Roberts, owner and principal designer of Roberts & Roberts Landscape and Garden Design based in Stamford, CT.  Attention to detail, sustainable practices and close collaboration with her clients are hallmarks of Debbie’s work.   From woodland pathways to front entry gardens to patios and pergolas, Debbie draws on a diverse scope of influences to enhance her designs.  Plants chosen specifically for each site, combined with attention to even the smallest design detail which often showcases the owner’s unique personality, mean no two finished landscapes are ever the same.

Climbing plants and vines are a vibrant design element that is missing from many gardens.  For some reason, seamlessly incorporating these plants into a flower garden or mixed planting bed is a bewildering task for both newbie gardeners and green thumbs alike.  But using climbing plants and vines is a simple and effective way to add another dimension to any garden.  Climbing plants add an instant sense of scale and permanence to a garden and transform it from ordinary to extraordinary in no time.

Some climbing plants, like climbing roses, climbing hydrangea and wisteria, take several growing seasons to make a statement in your garden and require a strong support structure, such as a pergola, arbor or fence, to grow on.  But, these garden structures can be difficult to design into every garden.  A more versatile solution to blending climbing plants into your garden is through the use of trellises and obelisks.

A trellis is an ideal choice for supporting climbing plants in a small garden, where a fence or wall may be too overwhelming and feel claustrophobic. A trellis screen, whether it’s a single panel or a multi-panel structure, can be used to create a secluded eating area or to screen out an undesirable view.  A trellis can be made from a variety of different materials, including wood, vinyl, metal, wire, grape vines, and bamboo and on and on.  Choose a material that complements your garden style.  Generally, natural materials work well in informal garden settings while trellises constructed of wrought iron or metal are at home in a more formal setting.

An obelisk, a simple garden ornament with four sides at the base which taper to the top and are usually topped with a finial of some sort, is even more versatile because it can be moved from location to location in your garden.  Your choice of an obelisk for your garden can speak volumes about you – it can be a simple and uncluttered charmer, a classic and romantic filigreed treasure or a modern and eclectic masterpiece that is a playful and whimsical addition to your garden.

Now that you’ve decided to add more visual interest to your garden with a trellis or obelisk, it’s time to think about what kind of climbing plant or vine to grow on it.  It’s important to know that plants climb in different ways – some curl around supports, some have tendrils that wrap about a support structure and others literally adhere to a nearby support.  It’s best to use vines and climbing plants that are not too vigorous so they don’t overwhelm your new trellis or obelisk.  Annual flowering vines, like cardinal climber (Ipomoea x multifida), sweet peas (Lathyrus) or purple hyacinth bean (Dalichos lablab) and later blooming clematis, such as ‘Ernest Markam’ and ‘Jackmanni ‘, are good choice for more delicate trellises and obelisks.  And don’t forget, many vegetables grow on vines which are also highly ornamental.  Purple pole beans and scarlet runner beans are two delicious choices.   Remember, it’s perfectly fine to grow more than one climber at a time on the same structure.

So, be creative with your choice of a trellis or obelisk, have fun combining different flower and foliage colors and enjoy a long season of color and interest in your garden.

Debbie

Debbie is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and is a founding member of the Connecticut Chapter of APLD.  Debbie’s blog A Garden of Possibilities features plant profiles, insights on garden design and musings on gardening in her corner of Connecticut (zone 6). She is also a member of a select group of international garden and landscape designers, The Garden Designers Roundtable, who blog monthly about various garden design topics.

You can follow Debbie on Twitter or connect with her via LinkedIn.

Tags: arbor, obelisk, pergola, trellis

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yes – I was counting the ways in which our outdoor furniture is extraordinarily gracious and obliging; and this, naturally, includes our garden structures, outdoor décor, home accents, and accessories.  As I pointed out, this is not just a fair-weather stance, as much of it is designed to stand up to the even the harshest elements of winter; and a lot of it is stylish enough for indoor use.    

 Moreover, during the holiday season, we all need the cooperation of everyone and everything around us; and that’s another way in which our furniture will help.  Besides the outdoor dining tables, porch swings, bar and bistro sets, hammock chairs, kids’ picnic tables, and settees that you can proudly use inside to accommodate guests at your holiday parties, there are many items that lend themselves to your outdoor displays.      

 Among the leaders in this category are arbors, trellises, and pergolas.  I’m not sure, but I may have mentioned these before; but even if I have, they deserve more press.  After all, they’ve been garden favorites for centuries, which means that they have endured the test of time, and passed it with flying colors.  In fact, they’re famous for flying colors, which are usually those of the gorgeous flowers that climb and envelop them.

 Of course, at this time of the year, the colors may be emanating from Christmas lights, which look equally stunning on planters, planter trellises, and planter benches with lattice backs.  You can also get very creative in decorating our wheel barrow planters. 

 Another way to light things up brilliantly is by using our solar-powered post caps, which come in Tiffany-style, clear, and solid-colored glass.  On fences, gazebo railings, and garden bridges, they’ll enhance your holiday displays, and make your yard absolutely spectacular all year long.  

 Indeed, our outdoor furniture can assist with many of the details of your Christmas decorations.  Speaking of details, there’s one other thing, of which I was reminded while watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special (don’t bother snickering, because I know you still watch it, too!).  Although your dog isn’t as sophisticated as Snoopy, he or she still deserves to share in the holiday fun; so don’t forget to decorate the dog house! 

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: arbor, bridge, dining sets, gazebo, Outdoor Furniture, pergola, Pergolas, picnic tables, Planters, porch swing, 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

Before long, children in costumes will be roaming the streets in search of candy.  With all of the craziness in the world, however, parents are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of this tradition.  Therefore, instead of letting their kids go trick-or-treating, they often choose to have Halloween parties. 

Although the themes of these get-togethers will naturally be scary, for those who choose to host them, the most terrifying part is all of the destruction that may be wrought by a houseful of little gremlins. 

If you’re debating about having such an affair, remember, you can still hold the party outdoors; in fact, that’s the best place to evoke the, uh, spirit of the occasion.  Furthermore, there’s a lot more room for playing games; and if anything gets spilled, it will be on the ground, instead of on your carpet. 

Halloween decorations are also a lot spookier under the moon and stars.  You can string trellises and pergolas with orange lights, and hang a ghost, a spider, a bat, or even a “dead body” from an arbor.  Planter trellises and planter benches with lattice also look wonderfully eerie when decked out with twinkling lights. 

Use orange and black disposable cloths on your picnic table or outdoor dining set, and use jack-o-lanterns or candles as centerpieces.  Additional picnic table benches, folding chairs, and patio chairs can be used for extra seating, as well as for a game of “musical chairs.”       

If you have a gazebo, you’ve really got it made.  Gazebos are great places for outdoor entertaining, all year long, especially if they’re enclosed with screens, doors, and windows, and have some extras, such as built-in benches and hidden wiring.  They also look spectacular when they’re decorated, with lights, scarecrows, pumpkins, and bales of hay.

So, you see, there’s nothing to be afraid of; you can host your Halloween party without destroying your house.  You’ll also be very popular with the little neighborhood boos and ghouls, who will think you’re the ghost with the most!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: arbor, bench, Chair, gazebo, Outdoor Furniture, pergola, table, trellis

As I mentioned before, many people are turning their yards, porches, decks, patios, and gazebos into outdoor living rooms; but they’re not stopping there.  No-o!  They are also creating outdoor kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, game rooms, and many other types of rooms.  Moreover – and I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this, too, at least once before – our stunning variety of outdoor furniture makes it possible to decorate them as comfortably, appropriately, and fashionably as any room in the house.

Of course, it’s just as important to furnish them tastefully.  Because these areas come in all different sizes, you should devise at least a sketchy plan of the layout and the motif of your outdoor room-to-be before you shop for furniture.  Knowing the dimensions that you’re working with, and coordinating colors, will help to keep it from looking over-crowded and disorderly. 

These schematics are even more important if you’re going to design more than one room, because, without specific design ideas, things can really get jumbled and confused; but you can solve this problem by using trellises, arbors, pergolas, and lattice enclosures as walls, ceilings, archways, and entryways.  Not only are these fantastic ways to define your spaces, but they add beautiful color, texture, and depth, and afford privacy and shade, while allowing air to circulate.  Planter benches with lattice backs will provide seating, flowers, and a wall, all at once; and you can instantly create a spectacular, secluded haven with two- and three-paneled garden trellises.   

No matter how much – or how little – space you have to work with, you can use these attractive, versatile, and durable garden structures to design striking outdoor rooms.  CedarStore.com offers cedar, pine, vinyl, and wrought iron arbors, trellises, and pergolas in all sizes, as well as magnificent gated arbors, and arbors with built-in benches and swings.

Of course, they’re not just for building outdoor rooms.  Any one of them, standing alone, covered with bright, gorgeous flowers, will be a breath-taking sight; and, you can’t deny, it will make a lot of scents!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy  

Tags: arbor, Outdoor Furniture, planter, trellis

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