by Lora Stevens

Created on: September 01, 2009   Last Updated: September 02, 2009

Seating is something that should not be overlooked while planning a garden area. This is a great way to rest, relax, and enjoy your garden. It is a place where others can enjoy your hard work and the peaceful feeling the garden brings. It is a place where you can sit and enjoy a cool drink after a hard day's work.

There are many ways a seating area can be planned for and used. This also depends greatly on the type of garden the seating will be placed in. The seating area should have function and be visibly pleasing as well. The design of the seating area can rely on personal preference and also may be selected according to the type of garden such as vegetable, flower, or zen, for example.

Vegetable Garden Seating

In a vegetable garden, function in seating is key. The seating should be conducive to the environment of the vegetable garden where weeds are pulled, and food is harvested. Seating with storage for quick access to tools, gloves, and baskets may be a good choice for this type of garden. You may not spend much time relaxing in this type of garden since you will be eager to go wash and enjoy your freshly picked food. Even though this may be the case, a few water-resistant cushions on a storage bench may be a nice place to rest after hard work in the garden.

Flower Garden Seating

A flower garden is a nice place to enjoy fragrant air and beautiful colors. Seating in this area may have some function, but could mostly be selected with outdoor enjoyment involved. This area may have a small table with chairs to enjoy lunch with friends or a quiet evening with someone special. This area may also have a few different varieties of seating options as a setting for small social gatherings. A nice addition to a flower garden is a beautiful wood or metal bench or a comfortable bench swing.

Zen Garden Seating

Zen garden seating all relates to relaxation and meditation. Design is especially important in this type of garden as an extention of the calm and peaceful nature of this type of garden. Clean, straight lines and simple design goes well with this type of garden. A soft, grassy area could be planned specifically for seating. A small open area with tile, smooth concrete, or other hard surface could be in place to provide an area for mats or cushions used for yoga or meditation. Placement of seating is also important in this type of garden. The seating should be placed to take best advantage of the surrounding sounds. If one side of the garden you can hear the street and the other side of the garden you can hear a trickling fountain, the seating would obviously be placed near the more peaceful, calming sound. Take time to sit in different areas of this garden while you are in the planning stages of where plants and seating will be placed.

In a garden, one can choose a single type of seating, or combine elements of each based on personal preference to create a unique and pleasant seating area to enjoy the fresh and fragrant space in and around the garden.

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