CHAPTER XII 



Garden Furniture 



Benches — Rustic Chairs, Seats, Screens, Trellises, Pergolas, 

 etc. — The Garden House — Fountains — Bird Baths 



A GARDEN of any size should not be without a garden seat, a 

 bird bath and similar adjuncts. Convenient seats and appro- 

 priate garden accessories should be a great joy. Inappropriate 

 and mean-nothing garden features should always be avoided. Pergolas 

 which lead nowhere nor do not hold up vines are out of place. Garden 

 fences which are too fantastic are Uke the too frequent highly ornate 

 vases used in our homes for the simplest flowers. Furthermore, the 

 style of the house and the manner of planting will largely determine 

 the propriety of every garden seat, bird house or fence. 



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Garden Benches 



An excellent, substantial garden bench may be constructed quite 

 cheaply. A working drawing for such a bench is shown. It is made 

 entirely of three-inch stuff, and can be either longer or shorter than six 

 feet. It has been thought best to place the legs one foot from each end 

 of the bench, unless the bench is shorter, when it will be better to have 

 them six inches from the end. Four designs are here found for the ends. 

 They are merely suggestive; others may be used just as well, but they 

 should be simple and in every case should be wide at top and bottom. 

 Small brackets are placed under the top on each side of the legs. They 

 are made of two- or three-inch material, being three inches on a side. 

 If one prefers, three long screws may be placed through the top of the 

 bench into the standards. In order to give the legs a good standard, 

 they are faced on all sides at the base with a strip of two by two and 

 one-half-inch stuff. The bench may be painted white, light gray or 

 green. 



Rustic Woodwork 



For this work there are a number of good sorts of wood. Some 

 are used with the bark and other wood is peeled before using. Hickory, 

 red Cedar, Cherry, Blackthorn, Birch, Larch and Fir are used with 

 the bark. Such wood should be used only when dry and is best cut in 

 the Winter, when little sap is flowing. It is stored to dry and season. 



To make the chair (on p. 163), select two back poles which have 

 nearly the same curve, then the front posts which are nearly straight. 

 There are two ways the parts may be joined, the first way being to bore 

 holes in both of the uprights and crosspieces and fit pegs or dowels of 



160 . 



