CC Flickr photo courtesy of mccun934.

Now is the time to stock up your garden with new items that will help you make it absolutely beautiful this summer. This means running out to nurseries and home improvement stores to get fun new things. If you want to really make a change to your garden, you might want to consider getting some patio garden furniture – a few pieces can completely change the look and feel of your outdoor space.

If you are going to buy some new pieces there are two key considerations you need to take. First of all, you need to find items which fit into your garden – you want to focus people’s attention on the beautiful plants and flowers you grow, a good piece of furniture can contribute to this. Find pieces that are subtle yet go with the general feeling: for verdant green gardens pick nice wood colors, while those with bright flowery spaces should get equally colorful furniture.

You also need to ensure you buy pieces which are hardy and will stand the test of time. Garden furniture is naturally exposed to all the ravages of the weather and it will thus need to be thoroughly waterproof. So try and buy hardy items that will last at least three seasons – this means buying quality pieces and keeping an eye out for ones whose paint won’t fade given exposure to the sun and rain.

Getting a good set of garden furniture can really make a big difference to your garden as it will allow you to comfortably relax in your own beautiful outdoor setting. A nice set will also compliment your plants and flowers perfectly, so consider picking up some new items – they might be just what your garden needs.

Other Resources for Patio Furniture Ideas

Better Homes and Gardens shows you several ideas for giving your patio or deck the “design” look.

This Old House shows you 10 Ways To Transform Your Outdoor Space.

When I was looking for a house, my wife had one request; she wanted a front porch. It wasn’t until after I got her the house, with the porch, that I realized that what she really wanted a porch swing like she had growing up. The problem was the porch cover that we would have to attach the swing to had been covered with vinyl siding. There wasn’t going to be a porch swing without a lot of work.

A lot of people are in this situation and there are options; Personally, I’m going to be getting her a double rocker. Now, it may look just like the ones you find at those down home restaurant and gift shops that seemed to have replaced the chain of blue roofed pecan places we had as kids. But here’s the difference; these are made out of polywood. Polywood is an engineered material made from recycled milk jugs that can be used like wood in furniture building but will resist any type of adverse weather situation you can think of…well anything you could encounter and still be worried about your outdoor furniture. The Trade Wind Poly-Wood Double Rocker is available for $479.99 from Clean Air Gardening.

In 1903 Thomas Lee was on vacation in Westport, New York, and need some outdoor chairs for his summer home. His now famous design originally consisted of 11 pieces of wood, cut from one board. He showed to a carpenter friend, Harry Bunnell, who patented the design and made the chairs for next 20 years.

This more modern chair is made from naturally weather resistant red cedar and features more of a curved back and contoured seat than the originals did. Cedar makes a great wood for outdoor furniture and will turn silver over time with exposure to the weather (or optionally I suppose you could use a coat of clear over it to keep its original coloration. The Cedar Adirondack Chair is available from Clean Air Gardening for $169.99.

When I was a child I when most kids went to summer camp me and my sister would go to see my grandparents on their little farm up in Arkansas. I did go to a summer camp one time and we were the lucky ones, I can assure you. Nights I would sit up and listen to hum of the antique oscillating fan in my room while I read Louis L’Amour novels and the only work I had to do in the morning was go out to the little chicken coop and get to get eggs for breakfast. I would open the door to the coop and once my eyes would adjust to the darkness I could make out which of the little compartments held chickens; and by extension the eggs.

It took a lot of guts for a city kid like me to evict the feathery tenant of each compartment; at my age the birds were about eye level and would peck right at your face. But the pay off was worth it…especially when you got that mystical double yoke egg and could be sure that Grandma would cook that one for you.

Last time I was up there, just before we sold off the old family farm, the old chicken coop was no more. They tell me it just plain fell down in a storm some years ago. I would have hauled it back home no matter what the neighbors said because in addition to the sentimentality I feel for such things in my ever so evident middle age it was just about the right size for a decent garden shed and all those compartments…well I guess I’m not the only one who thinks they could be put to less odorous uses.

Obviously whoever came up with this idea had a similar childhood to me. Available in two sizes each unit gives you rows of individual cubbies to put whatever you might need to stow. Each compartment features an upturned lip to keep the eggs items from sliding out onto the ground. They are made out of naturally weather resistant cedar rather than cheaper wood which would have to be either painted (painting over natural wood grain always makes me sad) or otherwise finished to protect it from the ravages of time. If only my grandmothers coop were made so well.

The Small Chicken Coop Cubby measures 27 1/2″ W, 11″ D, 26″ H and the larger one is 34 1/2″ W, 15″ D, 30″ H. From Smith & Hawken

To Gustav Stickley furniture was a movement; a philosophy of function over form and a celebration of design and engineering. He produced a periodical called The Craftsman that came filled with plans for everything from furniture to entire houses. As an insult, his detractors referred to this furniture as mission furniture…implying that his designs were crude and unsophisticated; Stickley preferred the term craftsman, but Mission stuck and it is no longer considered an insult by any means.

Craftsman furniture builders built this furniture out of the then-abundant quarter sawn white oak that they fumed with ammonia to naturally darken the wood from the reaction the fumes had with the natural tannins in the wood. They chose quarter sawn wood because of its inherent strength, and they chose white oak because it is strong, durable and resistant to weather. By design the furniture de-emphsized the grain of the wood and drew the eye instead to the strength and practicality. Well, that was then and this is now. Stop by any woodworking shop and you’ll find that quarter sawn white oak, if they even have it, is one of the more expensive hardwoods. There are only so many trees left of sufficient size. But instead of depleting our dwindling white oak supply these pieces are made from poly-wood. It’s a material that is made from re-cycled plastics and although it can be worked like wood, and used like wood it is resistant to…well…just about everything. You can put this in your house, on your patio, wherever and it will stay pretty much like new forever. The Mission Poly-Wood Sofa, Mission Poly-Wood Love Seat, Mission Poly-Wood Chair, Mission Poly-Wood Coffee Table and the Mission Poly-Wood Ottoman all pay tribute to this great philosophy of practical design and they are available from Clean Air Gardening.

It is a common misconception that simply reducing the amount of wood we use will actually save forests; I know it seems counter intuitive but often the opposite is true. Much of the wood we use for construction, furniture, and paper are grown just for that purpose. The harsh reality of this world is that people who own land intend to make money with it and if you can’t make money growing timber you turn that land into a pasture, or a parking lot.

No, the answer is in forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-profit organization founded in Germany “to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests”. It’s a complicated process but basically it insures that trees that are cut are replanted and some thought is given as to which trees are cut and when. When you find the FSC logo on a piece of furniture, like this Eucalyptus Slat Bench, you can sleep easy knowing that the wood used came from responsibly managed forests.

Many people only think of Eucalyptus as the trees those koala bears crawl around in for Australian air line commercials. But the true is that Eucalyptus is a great wood that is strong and resists rot. In other words, it is an excellent material for use in outdoor furniture. Also, Eucalyptus trees are used as a natural means of soil conservation and malaria control due to their ability to draw excess water out of the ground.

All of which brings us to this excellent Eucalyptus Slat Bench. It measures 49 inches wide, by 20 inches deep and 35 inches high; and of course it carries the FSC approval. It’s available for $279.99 from Clean Air Gardening.

I know what you’re thinking… Why not get an actual ladder from an actual farmhouse.  I mean, authenticity is the hip way to go isn’t it?  Well trust me on this; I’ve tried to balance even small stuff on real ladders and it’s always ended badly.  Plus your average ladder is at least eight foot tall and you have to deal with the whole bad luck aspect.  If you have pets and/or children how many times are they going to walk under the thing?  No, this is absolutely the one you want.

 Built out of solid hardwood and five foot tall and with a manageable foot print of two and a half feet square it will fit in anywhere from a big city apartment to a farmhouse in the country.  And forget balancing things on narrow little rungs.  You have three nice and wide steel trays; galvanized to resist rust and easily removable so you can keep things clean.   My grandma’s farmhouse didn’t have anything this cool.

 The Farmhouse Ladder Stand is available from Smith & Hawken for $399.00

This wooden bench is outdoor furniture, but it’s nice enough to use inside too!

Made of FSC certified Eucalyptus, so you know it’s forest friendly and made to last.

The eucalyptus outdoor bench is available from Clean Air Gardening. $112.

Learn more about buying outdoor furniture at the Outdoor Furniture Buyer’s Guide site.

Father’s Day is coming up. What better gift to give your old man than the gift of relaxation! Try out this handy hammock with its own stand and set your pa up with a cold one. Then, when he dozes off, you can blast him with the hose! Hahahaha!

Just kidding. Anyway, this hammock is ideal for those with limited places to hang one, or for those who like to take a hammock to the lake, beach, park, forest, or for those who like to sneak over to their neighbor’s house when they’re not home and hang out there. It weighs a mere 21 pounds so even the laziest Dad can haul it around.

Available from Cabela’s stuff inc.

I was just fantasizing about spending more time outdoors in the backyard this summer and starting looking at some patio furniture on the web. I found a couple cool items to help protect your patio furniture set, plus some very nice wood furniture.

For example, this Veranda Patio Table & Chair Set Cover cover your patio furniture to keep it clean and dry when you’re not using it. It has air vents as well so it won’t balloon out on windy days. Your patio furniture will last longer if you protect it! Cost of the cover is about $55.00.

Also, here’s a chaise lounge cover with the same design. It costs about $29.99.

Finally, if you’re actually looking for patio furniture, try out this eco-friendly eucalyptus wood furniture/chaise lounge. It comes from sustainably forested wood!