Approach the Bench : Go on, sit outside. A garden retreat creates a mood along with a sense of escape. Regardless of materials or cost, the seat becomes a refuge of peace and tranquillity.
The garden bench isn’t a new idea--but it is a rediscovered one: Front and back gardens throughout Orange County are showcasing the garden bench in variations far beyond simple plastic yard furniture.
“Unfortunately for most people, life in this area is often anything but a restful, peaceful experience,” said Jana Ruzicka, a landscape architect in Laguna Beach. Garden benches are one of the best antidotes around, she says. “They let people find a place of rest in what should be one of the more beautiful spaces in their homes--the garden.”
Garden benches are offered in many more varieties than generic manufacturers have traditionally included in their yard-furniture lines.
In fact, the demand was so low during the past two decades--and has increased so dramatically in the past year--that many companies are just now beginning to manufacture a variety of high-end garden benches.
“A lot of people think they have to drive somewhere to get that feeling of escape, rest and pleasure,” says Linda Quinn, an artist who lives in Costa Mesa and is using the garden bench in yard designs all over Southern California. “And when I create a bench tailored to a client’s desires, and they get it out in their yard, I hear joyful comments, like, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?’ ”
There are several ways to go when deciding on the purchase of a garden bench. You can purchase manufactured benches--from catalogues, designer showrooms and garden supply stores--or you can have one made to order--usually from independent artists--so it will fit specifically into your garden area. Or you can build one yourself out of rocks or other materials.
In creating the mood you want for your sitting area--a romantic aura, a foresty feel, an exotic look--you should give attention to both the bench and the surroundings in which you place it.
Many people are choosing the traditional English garden bench, according to designers throughout Orange County. This bench of wood, typically in a large, block style, is comfortable to sit on and can easily fit into most all types of gardens.
Mae Martin Designs of Irvine has several variations. Martin started constructing garden benches on the West Coast in 1985 when she wanted one for her morning meditations and realized she had to go to the East Coast or England to get what she considered a decent bench.
“I couldn’t believe no one was manufacturing them out West--it stupefied me,” she says. “So I decided I’d try and fill the void.”
Her lineup includes Eden, her first English garden bench, which sells for $716; California, a white wood bench at $716; San Juan, a light mahogany bench for $978; Amadeus, a rod-iron bench for $550, and Paris an iron bench with scrollwork for $500.
Martin says one of her most popular wood benches is Melody, a modern variation of the English bench in white with open designs on the back and slits on the arms; it sells for $1,046.
Trudy White, an interior designer based in Irvine, asked Quinn Designs to create an English-style bench for her Irvine yard. Linda Quinn created a traditional gray, heavy blocked-wood bench but with a twist--a long, white quilt and book made out of cast-iron slipped over the arm. Cost is $2,800. The bench without the sculpture sells for about $500.
“This might sound a bit silly,” says White, “but I’m a typical Type-A personality, and I don’t get much of a chance to actually sit on my bench. But I’ve placed it in the back garden in direct sight from my studio, and I’m constantly looking out at it, imagining myself sitting there in the sun, reading the book.
“I love the way this bench makes me feel--maybe someday soon I’ll actually get to spend a lot of time on it. But for now, nothing I could have purchased could have given me this restful feeling more than this simple bench.”
When considering a bench purchase, think about how long you want the furniture to last, where you live (near the ocean, in desert heat), what you want your garden area to look like and how much your budget will allow.
Prices vary dramatically from resin benches for less than $100 to designer pieces of imported teak for nearly $3,000. Whatever the price range, be sure to sit down in any bench you are considering to make sure it passes the comfort test.
“Consumers need to remember that a major purchase like a garden bench is something they probably will not do all the time,” Quinn says. “Therefore they want it to last.” A good rule of thumb, she says, is the less expensive the product, the shorter its life span.
“A bench is also outside in the elements, and weather conditions need to be considered.”
She says English wood benches are great, but they also require upkeep. They need to be oiled at least once or twice yearly. “People should always ask and consider what the upkeep on their bench will be before their purchase,” she says.
Quinn has made numerous metal benches--contemporary to traditional in style--and she says all do well in the aging process if care is taken initially to coat the metal correctly. There are zinc coatings and powder coatings that seal metal and help prevent rust.
Teak wood is popular for garden benches because it is the densest, heaviest wood. This helps prevent warping and chipping. The Blake House Associate Inc. at Design Center South in Laguna Niguel sells an Indonesian teakwood bench from Summit in Carmel-by-the-Sea that looks beautiful aged in the sun and ocean air to a silver gray. It comes in variations of the original teak color, from a cognac brown to a pickled white. The bench costs approximately $2,800.
Blake House also carries a line of redwood benches from the Sonoma area. Sonoma Hand-Carved makes the benches in six stains--from green and blue to natural browns and reds. Cost is $895. The bench also comes hand-painted in a variety of colors. However, like teak and other woods, the redwood will have to be oiled at least once yearly.
Relatively new in the bench market is a product called faux stone. The Original Faux Stone company in San Marcos has a brand-new garden bench in its ’94 line.
Designed to look like real stone, but actually made of several fabricated materials, it is non-chipping and durable. It comes in a variety of colors--from plum to rose to mint to black. Benches can be purchased in Orange County through Menage Inc. in Laguna Niguel.
Cast-aluminum makes a lighter and less expensive bench product; most will cost about $400. Montage in the Design Center South sells one with a lace-back in green, blue-gray or rust. It retails for $425.
Blake House also supplies a line of cast-iron benches from Murray’s Iron-Works in Los Angeles.
Sandra MacLellan says a few notables in the line are the Park Avenue bench in heavy antique-white cast-iron ($1,325), the Twig Bench, delicate green cast-iron to resemble twigs ($990); the French bench--with iron-work similar to the Paris Metro--for ($1,505), and the Viennese bench, with scrolled cast-iron arms and either wood or iron slats ($1,465).
Less-expensive benches include the resin ones made by Alliberts. The benches come in white ($77) and hunter green ($84) and hold up well to the elements. Rogers Gardens carries these, as well as a traditional cement pedestal bench, with two scrolled legs and a straight cement seat ($100).
At Home Depot, a white resin two-person bench sells for $25, and a green cast-iron bench with oak seat slats sells for $83.
You can also make your own bench from some simple materials. Quinn says a very nice bench can be created by taking slabs of flat stone and stacking them for legs, with a board across the tops. “You can be as creative as you want,” she says.
“There is no limit to what you can do with style for a bench,” Quinn says. “You can make it completely utilitarian or make it a pure art statement--or anywhere in between.
“But one thing is certain, if you place a bench in your garden, sooner or later you’re going to sit in it, and then you’ll be sneaking time to sit and relax on it. What other piece of furniture can make you feel so relaxed and at peace?”
