After a lot of thinking about the subject, my husband and I ordered an oak hardwood bench from an online outlet last week.  It arrived today and I must say it is a superb specimen.  The garden seemed a little flat and featureless until we put this in position.  We can now stroll about the lawn and stop at a point where we can look at the back of our house which has many specimen palnts and a beautiful deck full of flowers.  We get a real eyeful of the garden from this vantage point.  Our new hardwood bench is slightly shaded by a small ornamental cherry which means we can it there at most times without being roasted by the sun. I am very pleased with our investment.

Free Landscaping Design Program

Tips

• Many homeowners enjoy the plentiful, lush look of an English garden. If you’re one of them, or want to learn more about English garden design there are many resources out there.

• When designing one of these gardens, you will want to pick around four colors to serve as your basic color scheme.

• Many English style gardens feature lattice work or trellis accessories on which climbing plants and flowers can thrive. Morning glory and clematis are two examples of climbing blooms, while ivy is a very popular plant for an English garden.

• There are many resources out there that can help you create your English garden design.

When I was a kid, we had an old fashioned push lawn mower – I think they’re called reel mowers. I’ve always thought they would be a better option for both environmental reasons, and for health reasons. I imagine you get a better workout pushing one of those around the yard than some self-propelled gas mower. How are they for cutting the lawn though? Do they work as well as a power mower does? And what about sharpening the blades? Do they need to be sharpened more or less often than a typical lawnmower, or are they about the same as any other style?