Rattan garden furniture
We admire artificial resin-rattan garden furniture, of course, but there is much to be said for having the genuine article in your garden. It feels natural and it is natural. This range of rattan cane garden furniture is made from Indonesian Kubu rattan has been designed specifically for outdoor use. Chairs and sun loungers, with comfortable cushions, are available.
Philip Simmonds Garden Ceramics
Too much garden pottery is backward looking. It is a pleasure to find elegant pastel coloured sculptural ceramics. The pots have clean lines which provide a pleasing and calming contrast with indoor or outdoor planting and foliage.
Tristen May metal garden furniture
The great thing about galvanizing steel, as a protection against rust, is that the process is tried and trusted. It is not a paint which can come of. The zing is applied electrolytically and bonds with the steel. You would have to chip or rub it off to let the steel start rusting. And zinc is a beautiful shade of grey. These examples are by Tristen May.
Oak glass house garden room
If you want a shed which is oh-so-much-more than a shed, we recommend an Oak Glasshouse. Both materials are of the highest quality and, with additional protection from a slate roof, will last for every while growing more beautiful year-by-year. Who cold ask for more? So much nicer than buying a trashy shed from your local garden centre to watch it rotting year-by-year, unless of course you risk your lungs by spraying it with poisonous chemicals year-by-year – and they will certainly kill any plants they touch.
Martin Duffy specializes in sensual garden sculpture. The colours are obtained by the use of different chemicals which are applied to the heated bronze. Martin works in collaboration with Angela Farquharson at http://www.thesculpturecollective.co.uk/.
Hamish Mackie bronze garden sculpture
Hamish Mackie’s ‘Bronze Leopard Life Size Coming out of tree’ - display at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2009. It reminds me of some of the earliest garden sculpture ever made: the Mesopotamian bas relief carvings from Babylon. Animals and drama have long been components of garden design, and long deserve to remain so. Hamish specializes in wild life sculpture.
Copper is a one of the oldest and best materials for making garden lights and lanterns. If lacquered, copper retains its reddish-gold brilliance. If unlacquered, it can turn a wonderfully soft eau de nil green. The lanterns in the photograph are wired for electricity but it is still possible to buy copper lanterns for gas light. So lets have a new Chalcolithic Age (Copper Age).
Isn’t she a beauty?
We put this photograph of her on Flickr.
The first comments were:
“Oh how absolutely cool.”
“Wow! Fab!”
“Very Cool”
The photograph was taken at the Chelsea Flower Show.
This ‘decking thing’ is getting out of hand. There are times and places for garden decks but the trend to ‘anywhere -anytime’ is bonkers.
It looks nice and warm and crisp in the photograph. But put it in your garden and wait five years and what will have happened? A little rot; a little twisting; stains, lots of moss – and a great need for timber decking cleaners, stains and preservatives.
So look at Japan and learn how best to use timber decking: under the eaves of a roof. It then becomes a delightful surface which can be swept clean and is always a pleasure to walk or sit on.
Ain’t it cute?
So sweet. Just the thing for a garden ledge. Go on: treat yourself!
