Ideas for seating areas-add enjoyment to your Buffalo-area garden

by Connie Oswald Stofko

We walk around our gardens watering and weeding, but sometimes we actually take time to sit down and relax! When planning your landscape, remember to include one or more seating areas.

Get some ideas from these gardens in Western New York.

chairs in yard with gardens — Comfy, padded Adirondack chairs create a conversation area in the large yard of Nancy and Charles Bachman in North Tonawanda. Bonus tip: The shrubs soften and obscure the metal side of the above-ground pool. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

patio and chairs — In the back of the Bachmans’ yard is a brick patio with metal ice cream parlor chairs. Flower beds surround the patio and a trellis softens the view of the pool from this angle. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

pink wicker seat and table — *Linda Monaco of Lackawanna likes using pink, red and white in her gardens. This area has pink furniture and pink flowers. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko*

butterfly chair — *Rest with the wings of a butterfly around you in this quirky metal chair. You can see it in the Elma landscape of Jerry and Karen Dwigun. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko*

stone bench by garden — *A simple stone bench stands in another area of the Dwigun yard. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko*

chairs in yard — Jeannette Riley of Albion, whom I visited in 2011, had some great tips. She uses mulch to create the floor of a seating area because it’s quicker than doing brickwork and helps keep the bugs down, she said. The lights on the door behind the loveseat illuminate the seating area. (The door can be opened to allow you to walk down the path–or you can just walk around the door.) Rather than bring all the chair cushions into the house when it rains, Riley keeps trash bags near the chairs. When it rains, she just pops the cushions into the bags and leaves them in place. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

garden room with tree trunk in wall — *This garden room in the Rileys’ landscape really brings the outdoors inside. Look inside. The back wall incorporates the trunk of a live tree. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko*

2 Comments on “Ideas for seating areas–add enjoyment to your Buffalo-area garden”

Connie says:

February 10, 2021 at 11:47 am

Hi Marlene, it’s helpful to see what other people are doing in their gardens.
marlene cheman says:

February 9, 2021 at 11:05 pm

Enchanting! Great ideas for the rest of us!

2 Comments on “Ideas for seating areas–add enjoyment to your Buffalo-area garden”

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