A comfortable place to sit

I have visited countless grand gardens over the years and learned a lot of lessons from them. One of the most important lessons is that giving visitors (and the gardener!) places to sit makes a garden far more enjoyable and welcoming. If you're spending any time creating an inviting garden or landscape, nothing says, "Relax and enjoy the view" more than a well-placed seat.

Every time I walk into a local plant nursery, I take a brief detour to the outdoor furniture section just so I can spend a few quiet moments in one of their hanging egg chairs on display. I love being enveloped by the generous cushions and the feeling that I'm floating on air. I always try to imagine where I could put such a wonderful thing on our property, draw a blank, and quickly move on to the real purpose of my visit, relieved that I don't have to justify the exorbitant cost of the chair.

The metal chairs with a perspective across the frozen pond

Although an egg chair would be lovely to have in one of my garden spaces, creating the ideal outdoor seating area doesn't really require a huge outlay of cash. The point is to provide a place to perch—and something as simple as a plain metal chair or a section of a tree trunk will do the job just as well. One of my favorite places to sit, for example, is in one of the chairs on the pond dock. They're just metal chairs that are part of an outdoor dining set the previous homeowners left behind. They're not exactly what I might want in that spot (I mean, a hanging egg chair might be perfect there), but they do the job. I love spending a few moments resting in one of the chairs and looking out across the water.

Tips for creating a good outdoor seating area

Choose a spot where you'd like to linger for a while

The inviting outdoor sofa in the Reading Garden

I created a garden area that I call the Reading Garden. It's a little nook with a pergola in the corner of the pool area that the previous homeowners used for a hot tub (which, I'm happy to say, they took with them). I planted rose, clematis, and jasmine vines at three of the corners. They've scrambled up and over the pergola and turned the spot into a quiet, enclosed space. I love sitting in there with a good book and listening to the birds and the trickle of the little fountain I made in a glazed pot.

Where do you like to spend time on your property? Do you like to recline on a chaise lounge and soak up the sun? Maybe you're more of a shade lover who likes to retreat to cooler zones. Scout out those ideal spots, and choose the ideal seating for them.

Consider the best perspective

The view from the Reading Garden sofa looking forward

I have moved the sofa in the Reading Garden a few times in an attempt to keep everything in view. I finally realized that was impossible (there are plants or views from every angle), so I chose the one that was most pleasing to me. It means if I want to see some of my hydrangeas, I have to look behind the sofa, but I enjoy an easy view of the sunny area, and I still get to see the shady side on the left and the boardwalk and fountain to the right. Plus, tucked at the back end of the patio, the sofa is hard to see from the pool, so it's perfectly private.

Is there a great feature you want to look at, such as a beautiful tree, a water feature, or a vista? Turn around in your selected spot, see where your best view is, and situate your seat facing that direction.

Think about how the seating looks from other perspectives

The sky blue bench above the pool

I placed a bench on the second tier of our pool garden because I like how it sits in the landscape. I use it primarily as a focal feature to draw the eye to that spot, but it may seem a strange place for a bench. Once you walk up there and sit down, though, it provides an elevated view of the pool and the small flower beds nearest the house. It provides a completely different perspective that I love.

Do you have a space a little removed from your house that you don't visit as much? It's a great opportunity for a colorful chair or one with colorful cushions to light up that space and draw you out for a new perspective.

Take advantage of natural areas to feed your senses

I love being in the woods. There's something so peacefully mysterious about them. When I didn't know what to do with one of the many benches the previous homeowners left behind, I decided to perch it on the edge of the woods. It's a wonderful place to sit for countless reasons, but what I love most is that moss grows throughout the area. That's enough to draw me out barefooted for a little quiet time.

The bench on the edge of the woods

My husband loves looking out at vast expanses, so another bench went under a large tree near the back of our property. He sits up there and looks at our neighbors' open field. I think it allows him to think expansive thoughts, and I love that.

Is there a spot in your garden where wild honeysuckle grows nearby? A place where the grass underfoot is like a plush carpet? Remember to choose places that engage your senses. You'll find it's all the more relaxing.

Take note of how the sun moves across your property

We have a small outdoor furniture set on the pool patio that includes a loveseat, two chairs, and a coffee table. From the early morning until 1:00 in the afternoon, it's a comfortable place to sit. But once the sun fully clears the roof of the house, you're basically plunged into full Georgia sun, which will quickly cause even the most well-hydrated individual to droop.

Try to have at least two areas where you can sit and enjoy either sun or shade—whichever you prefer—in any part of the day. And if you'd like to sit wherever you want whenever you want, a patio umbrella (that's easily moveable) can take care of the problem of too much sun in a pinch.

A final gentle reminder for the gardener

Places to sit are necessities in the garden and around any landscape, but a lot of gardeners find them a bit challenging. In fact, outdoor chairs, sofas, and benches often don't function normally for gardeners. All of mine seem to be loaded with a spring in the seat that only deploys when I sit down. Otherwise, how could I explain my inability to sit for long periods? Or could it be that as soon as I sit down, I notice a weed just over there that needs pulled or a Clematis tendril over there that needs woven into its support structure? No doubt the other gardeners reading this are now chuckling to themselves.

So for all of you who love getting your hands in the dirt and creating beautiful garden spaces with perfect places to sit, try to take time to relax and enjoy it all. That spring device likely isn't installed in the seat; it's probably a mechanism in our own brains that—with practice—we can override.