Coastline Treasures

For even the most dedicated gardeners, it can feel like your garden is missing something from time to time. Whether you think that flowering vine isn’t working out so well, that fountain is in the wrong place or that bare spot needs a bit more color, it can be difficult to make a decision about what to change.  Here are a few ideas sure to help you create an idyllic garden décor: 

~Add a trellis - most people think of their gardens as sprawling areas encompassing a wide space, but you can also consider growing upward as well as outward with a wood trellis.

~Water features - a pond, a stream, or a fountain; water features can bring together an outdoor space and serve as a focal point.

~Garden swings - it’s always nice to have a comfortable place to lounge in your garden, and with a garden swing you will be able to enjoy the outdoors while gently rocking back and forth.

There are many ways to transform a garden into a warm, inviting outdoor living space. A garden must have its own personality. This can be created by choosing the plants and flowers you want to grow. The décor and garden furniture must be chosen carefully as well.

A hammock can be perfect for that lazy afternoon retreat. An arbor, the most common of which are cedar arbors, can bring magic to the garden. Flowering vines can complete an arbor’s look. A bench can be attached to the harbor for it to be a cozy place to read a book or meditate.

A hammock chair must be one of the best ways to sit and relax.  Suspended above the ground, these chairs are a great way to kick back.  Because they are not stationary, these chairs are a cross between a hammock and a swing.  They have the comfort and material of a hammock with all of the fun of a swing, while still being practical.

Because they can be placed anywhere with an awning or ceiling, these chairs are very versatile.  They are great to just spend a lazy afternoon in and take a nap.  Or, you can perch yourself in one of these floating chairs and read a book.  If you have a young child, they also make great swings as long as you are careful.  The chairs are ideal for anyone who wants the comfort of a hammock and the practicality of a chair.

Everyone has a favorite spot in their home, some have more than one.  For some people its a certain place on the couch.  For some its a arm chair.  Others its their bedroom.  One of my favorite spots is in my garden.

My parents bought wooden garden furniture to furnish our backyard; included in that furniture was a swing.  That swing, in the cool, shaded corner of the backyard, was my favorite spot.  I would spend hours sitting out there just reading a book and taking in the serenity of the birds chirping and the calm breeze.  When I need to escape, I think back to that swing.

It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that summer is drawing to a close. Before we know it, the cool winds of September will set in and those carefree days spent indulging in beachside frivolity will be gone for months at a time. With that in mind, we can’t afford to waste the precious few warm days that still remain. It’s time to break out a cotton hammock and hang it up between two trees.

On an especially warm evening, you might even choose to dwell outside a bit longer than normal, swinging freely inside the hammock as it wraps them in a snug embrace. As the sky darkens and the stars come slowly into view, we can ponder a few of the mysteries of the universe - or maybe just bask in the pale glow of those billion-odd points of light. With a hammock, you can accomplish all of that without even getting sand in your clothes.

When I was a little girl, and even still today, I would love swinging.  I always felt so liberated when I was swinging.  The feeling of sailing swiftly towards the clouds, and then falling back and doing it again is almost beyond words.  It was the closest I could get to flying.

It never mattered what time of swing I was on.  It could be a traditional swing, a garden swing, or even a cotton hammock.  The feeling of endless possibility was always the same.  To this day, swinging is a great way to just escape.

The patio in your backyard is a great place to entertain guests or just relax.  But unless you enjoy sitting on cement, garden furniture is a must.  Unfortunately, patio furniture can be very expensive.  Building your own furniture is a great and easy way to save money.  With a quick trip to your local home improvement store, you can build yourself a great patio set.

A table with benches is a great simple piece of furniture for your yard.  And all you need to build your own is the wood, basic tools like a hammer and a drill, clamps.  Once you have your materials, its time to begin building.  Start by building the table.  Cut each piece to the size you want it.  Then build the base.  Once the base is constructed, secure the table top.  Now move on to the benches, the basic idea is the same.  Make sure everything is securely fastened to avoid breaking. 

While building your own furniture may take more time than just purchasing it, you will be saving a significant amount of money.  Also, the endeavor is a great family project.

There is nothing more relaxing than spending a calming afternoon outdoors.  Hammock chairs are a great way to sit, swing, and take in the pleasures of your garden.  They have the comfort of a hammock, but allow you to sit up and enjoy the sights in your garden.  Hammock chairs hang beautifully from an awning on the patio or from a study tree.  They are a great way to add tropical bliss to your backyard.

If you don’t have a place to hang a chair in your backyard, but you still want a hammock chair, there is still a way.  The chairs have a special hook that you drive into the awning to allow it to hang.  This same hook can be put in the ceiling of a room and you can enjoy the comforts of the hammock right in your home.  Adding a hammock chair to a beach-themed bedroom is a great way to accent the room in a creative and fun new way.

Wooden garden furniture adds a beautiful place to sit and relax outdoors while being very durable and low maintenance.  Wooden furniture has natural chemicals in it that protects it from the weather.  It naturally secretes water that flows through the wood to protect it from water damage in the rain.  Other benefits to wooden furniture are that it won’t splinter or get soggy in rainy situations and it had the ability to withstand insects.

Wooden garden furniture has an interesting history.  Because of its durability, it is one of the oldest forms of outdoor furniture.  In colonial America, the furniture was often built from remittance of ships.  Because the garden furniture was more sought after in these times, having wooden furniture was seen as a sign of wealth.  Today, because the furniture is created from uncultivated timber, wooden garden furniture is a large contributor to the sustainability movement.  Adding wooden furniture to your garden not only adds a great touch to your garden and helps the environment.

It’s always nice to spend a lazy afternoon lounging and swinging in a cotton hammock.  But these comfortable swinging loungers began with a much more practical use.  The origin of the hammock is credited to ancient Greece with a student of Socrates named Alcibiades in 450 B.C.  While he used the hammock as a relaxing and comfortable bed, hammocks were a means of survival in other parts of the world.

Tribes in South America relied on the hammock to protect themselves from the dangers of the jungle at night.  By hanging above the ground, the hammock kept the tribal people away from predators and killer insects, as well as the moisture on the ground that comes with jungle evenings.  Now a means of pure relaxation, the hammock started out with a very practical function.