The Garden Bench as art, tips to placing them in the landscape
Help Mother Nature bring her patina of moss and lichen
I can probably count the number of times I’ve sat on our garden benches.
They’ve grown old along with our garden and have taken on a lovely patina that has transformed them into the perfect wildlife garden accessory art form, rather than the utilitarian pieces their creators originally had in mind for them.
I can think of no better piece of garden art than a beautifully moss- and lichen-covered ancient garden bench tucked beneath the branches of a spring flowering dogwood or serviceberry.
Imagine the vignette. At the foot, a lovely aged piece of natural flagstone with bits of lichen and moss echoing the patina of the bench that now offers birds and woodland wildlife a resting place. Beside the bench, an aging copper or concrete birdbath.
On one side of the bench, annual flowers spill out of a small group of terracotta pots where chipmunks chase one another in what seems like an endless game of tag.
The summer rains bring both nourishment for the annual flowers as well as another opportunity for the grey, weathered bench to transform into a patchwork of blue-green mosses and lichens.
This is not the time to clean these works of art, or worse, paint them some gaudy colour looking for a focal point in the garden. This is a time to let Mother Nature work her magic and create garden art that only time can buy.
If you do want to add colour to your benches or garden sitting area, let me suggest taking a look at designers like Annie Selke who has a great selection of colourful outdoor accessories like rugs, cushions and drapes.
There was a time, shortly after we purchased our two wooden benches, that they offered up a comfortable place to rest and relax in the garden.
They provided a place to sit quietly, explore the many senses of the garden; the sounds of birds, the sweet smell of honeysuckle or the earthiness after a summer rain.
After the mosses and lichens started to take over, however, the thought of sitting on them and crushing these delicate, miniature works of art was replaced with how I could best capture Mother Nature’s creations through the lens of the camera. Several attempts, in different weather and under a variety of lighting conditions have given me a deeper appreciation for the incredible beauty that time creates.
Situate a garden bench near an arbour covered in roses or native vines and enjoy not only the view but the privacy and shade the arbour throws. More on the garden arbour here.
This old garden bench covered in mosses and lichen provides the perfect landing spot for this male cardinal. Even if the bench is old and no longer useful as a place to sit, it can be used as art in the garden. I often place a container full of colourful flowers on the seat or on the ground below to draw attention to the bench.
How to create a mossy, aged patina
A quick search on the internet provides several alternatives to creating an aged look for new garden objects. Although most focus on aging concrete, the same process will also work on wood product. Mother nature and time does most of the work naturally, but some simple steps help to hurry it along. What might take mother nature years to create, can be done in a few weeks or months by following these steps.
• Start by mixing a weak solution of water and black acrylic or water-based paint and apply it to the cement statuary. Let dry and apply a second or third coat. The effect is simply to give the statuary a ‘dirty’ look rather than the stark white one it often has when it is new.
• Mix yogurt or buttermilk in a bucket with equal amounts of water, compost or soil and even some manure. You can add in some crushed moss at this stage as well. The result should be a thick spreadable paste.
• Paint on the mixture to the cement statuary or container ensuring you cover all areas especially creases where moss would naturally take hold.
• Take a handful of moss and rub the surface of the concrete to spread the moss spores into the concrete.
This small garden bench is located just outside our patio doors and is part of a vignette that includes a birdbath, flowers and groundcovers beneath a Cornus Kousa dogwood. We often place a container filled with annuals on it to add a pop of colour to the vignette.
“I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree, past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at night with the stars above the tree.”
A close up of the Lichen and moss that combine to create a beautiful patina on the garden bench.
A history of the Garden Bench
The garden bench has a long history that can be traced back to the Roman age when very uncomfortable stone benches and seats were popular in hedged gardens and orchards where they fit in quite nicely with the abundance of long rows of Roman and Greek columns. In fact, the oldest surviving examples of garden furniture can be traced back to the ancient gardens of Pompeii.
Turf benches became popular in the Middle Ages.
By the 19th century, parks and gardens became more commonplace and along with it came the need for more seating. Cast iron methods of construction ramped up production and cemented the park and garden bench into the hearts and minds of gardeners.
It wasn’t until the early 18th century that wooden chairs and benches became more commonplace in gardens. In fact, the Windsor chair, so common in many of today’s homes, actually got its start in English gardens where it was known as the Forest Chair.
In North America, it is said that the oldest known surviving piece of garden furniture is a wooden bench from the late 18th century. The Almodington bench was created for the Plantation house in Somerset County, Maryland. Replicas of the large, highly detailed bench circa 1750 continue to be available. For those interested in the history of the bench or even to purchase one click here to take you to this informative Aileen Minor Garden Antiques website.
Over the years poets have praised the simple garden bench and all that it encompasses. Thomas Hardy had this to say about the garden bench.
A garden bench in a public garden situated perfectly for selfies with the colourful Iris in the background.
The Garden Seat
Its former green is blue and thin,
And its once firm legs sink in and in;
Soon it will break down unaware,
Soon it will break down unaware.
At night when reddest flowers are black
Those who once sat thereon come back;
Quite a row of them sitting there,
Quite a row of them sitting there.
With them the seat does not break down,
Nor winter freeze them, nor floods drown,
For they are as light as upper air,
They are as light as upper air!
Thomas Hardy
An old garden bench tucked away in some ferns beneath a dogwood tree makes for a perfect composition in the woodland garden.
Placing your garden bench in your backyard
Of course, garden benches don’t have to be covered in moss and lichen to be works of art. Almost any garden bench becomes a work of art if it is carefully placed in a garden. Finding the perfect spot isn’t always easy and it might take moving the bench to several spots before you find the perfect placement. Even then, most garden benches are light enough to move around the garden and experiment with placement. The ideal place in the spring, might not be the best place in the summer, fall or winter.
We have a number of garden benches, but I consider only two of them to be real “artsy” garden benches. The others include a small decorative concrete bench that is just beginning to take on the aged look with a little moss and lichen. It is placed just outside our single French/patio door where we can see it from our family room couch. Beside the bench is a copper bird bath. At its feet is a carpet of snow-in-summer ground cover and a combination of pea gravel and grey square-cut flagstone. It sits under a Cornus Kousa dogwood that is just maturing enough to put on a show involving hundreds of late spring, early summer creamy-coloured flowers.
The other is a homemade cedar bench that originally came from a hot tub enclosure. It sits beneath our large pine and is hidden for most of the year. It sits in an extremely shady location providing me an opportunity to grow shade-loving plants in a large container, or just leave it as a natural bench garden visitors may stumble upon. The squirrels regularly take advantage of its raised perspective to survey that part of the garden and work on a nut they’ve gathered or a prize they’ve discovered in the nearby compost/brush pile.
“No king has a throne more beautiful than a bench covered with the autumn leaves!”
Here are just a few more ideas for placing your garden benches.
An example of an elegant park bench in a commercial garden setting hilighted by the colourful tulips.
• Consider building or purchasing a small garden arbour as a focal point to draw visitors to your bench. Surround it with a sweet-smelling vine like honeysuckle that is particularly attractive to hummingbirds. A favourite clematis can provide a delicate and very easy-to-control vine with exquisite flowers. Or, consider a berry producing vine like Virginia Creeper for the birds and great fall colour. Better yet, combine a selection of vines to provide interest, food and nectar for the entire growing season.
•If you have a relatively small yard, placing a bench at the end of a pathway that leads you through the garden is a great way to create a destination in the garden. It can also provide you with a new seating area – one that allows you to look back at your home and garden rather than always looking out to the same view. In this instance, a colourful bench might be just the thing to add a hit of colour. If the bench leads to a wooden fence, consider using a backdrop of three to five cedars to provide a natural background and a place for birds to nest. Add planters with colourful annuals spilling onto the pathway. A small birdbath allows you to sit quietly while birds enjoy a drink or quick bath. This is a great way to, over time, get the birds used to your presence and provide you with some great photographic opportunities.
• If you have a larger garden consider placing your garden bench in an area that affords the best view in the garden. It may be overlooking a body of water, sweeping fields or an open area where deer, rabbits and other garden wildlife often wander. Walk around the garden and find areas that you don’t often visit and then imagine quietly sitting there in the morning or evening, a cup of coffee in hand or maybe even a glass of fine wine. It may not have the perfect backdrop at the moment, but some strategically placed cedars, Eastern White Pine or even well-placed large shrubs can provide privacy for you and the wildlife that will also enjoy the open view that this area of the garden provides. Don’t forget the birdbath and maybe a birdhouse to welcome your garden friends to what will become your favourite spot in the garden.
A spot you might not yet realize even exists in your garden.
There is nothing like a garden bench to bring beauty and, at the same time, experience it, in your woodland wildlife refuge.