Sitting in the garden...

It's something we, as active gardeners, need to remember to do!

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting many gardens. Almost all of them had places to sit and ponder. But did I sit? No! And this is perhaps the curse of the gardener…

Many of these gardens were private escapes, gardens behind peoples’ houses, where the owners and gardeners could find sanctuary.

I’m going to show you some of these; all with places to sit, on chairs or benches that are just as important for their decorative quality as their utility.

My hope is to inspire you … to remind you that placing a seat in the garden is not only evocative for the visitor, but a place of rest and appreciation for you, the gardener! So I’ll join you and the next time I see a chair, I’ll sit on it 😊

Chairs in the garden always act to personalize the space. Imagine this lovely backyard without them: the garden, with its angular pond and complementary plantings, would still be beautiful but maybe a bit static and impersonal. With the chairs though, it invites the visitor to sit and enjoy the activity that takes place around water — if you have ever watched the parade of insects, birds, plants and fish in a pond, you know that hours can be spent, mesmerized!

The vintage wire chairs with thin metal legs and see-through backs are well-chosen; from any other vantage point in the garden, they do not block the view of the pond and their shadows are simple cubes on the gravel, repeating the shape of the concrete table. The woven pattern on the chair backs mimic the lattice screen at the foot of the garden…

It’s worth noting (how can you miss it?) that the colour of the coral peonies are repeated in the seat cushion and porch door.

This is the inspired garden of Margaret Roach in upstate New York. One hint that you’re seeing her work is the signature paint colours she uses: dark mossy green, coral red and chartreuse. And of course the painterly way that she arranges plants and decorative surprises.

Chartreuse is the perfect colour for the shade. This chair, that is known as the “Wave Hill chair”, sits like a sculpture providing a modern lightness to this darkened spot. It might not be comfortable looking, but it sure is happy!

Again in Roach’s garden, these attractive woven plastic and chrome chairs are perfect for outdoor use. Comfortable, weatherproof and in a colour somewhere between putty and khaki they are the perfect complement to the greys of the stone and gravel, as well as the chartreuse of the creeping sedum (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’) that is echoed by the ‘Tiger Eyes’ sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’) in the background. This raised patio is a perfect spot to enjoy an al fresco meal, surrounded by the colours and sounds of the garden.

A much more formal space, the seating here is around a wrought-iron circular table with matching chairs under the shade of an umbrella, and surrounded by a white garden. This mostly shady garden is very quiet and serene; bounded by a cedar hedge, coupled with the repetition provided by boxwood parterres, the only plants providing colour mid-summer are hydrangea, coneflower and dogwood. The couple who own this garden spend their evenings here; the white flowers glow in the moonlight.

This romantic spot is found in the garden of Page Dickey called ‘Duck Hill’, that I was happy to visit some years ago before she sold it in 2014 for a cool 2.5 million dollars! This simple French bistro chair provides high contrast to what is likely the purple wands of a huge buddleia (perhaps ‘Silver Spring’ buddleia, Buddleia alternifolia ‘Argentea’), which is not entirely reliable in our Zone 4-5 area. To its left are white iris, and on the right are what looks like yellow false indigo (perhaps Baptisia Decadence (c) ‘Lemon Meringue’) and catmint (Nepeta faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’). The crushed stone pathways in this hot and sunny garden provide the perfect surface for plants to billow and self-seed without being a nuisance. If you wanted to achieve this effect in your own garden and didn’t want to chance losing a buddleia to winter cold, choose either a purple French lilac (Syringa vulgaris) or a pink beauty bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis, also called Linnaea amabilis) for the same profusion of flowers.

This loose, wild-looking and easy care swath of garden has its own viewing platform with a singular Adirondack chair. It is the kind of garden you’d find at a cottage or a country property where you didn’t want to be a slave to cutting edges, staking or hoeing. The plants are a combination of ferns, hosta and daylily in the foreground with galloping false spirea (Sorbaria sorbifolia) up against the stone wall of the house and some Bumald spirea (Spiraea x bumalda) in the mid-range. This is the kind of garden for those who are very easy going and not control-freaks, as these plants are all spreaders…but it is a great choice for a shady piece of land where you just want to relax.

The brilliance of this chunky yellow armchair complements the sky blue siding on this charming country house, perched above a lake in the Quebec wilds. The garden is quite structured, with stone retaining walls, flagstone pathways and a monumental staircase that is planted with thyme. It is a garden where the retired owner comes out with his morning coffee to survey what needs to be done, returns with his tools a while later, spending much of the day dead-heading, mentally re-arranging and filling empty spaces. In the evening, he sits on this chair and enjoys this beautiful piece of heaven that he has nourished and loved.

A last spot to sit. If you’re lucky enough to have a country property that extends over fields and streams, don’t forget to place a bench facing the view. It will remind you to stop, sit and savour what you have helped to make and what lies beyond. And don’t hurry to get up again until your soul is soothed.