Protecting the Beauty of Garden Furniture
Protecting the Beauty of Garden Furniture
If you had created a perfect little garden getaway in your yard in the past, you may be looking out there this winter and sadly wondering how many of your plants are going to survive. Chances are you are already planning what new plants you are going to have to purchase. But are you taking any time to think about the garden furniture you have? What about the impact of winter on those furniture pieces?
While your furniture pieces may look great now, if you leave them out in too much of the winter weather there are a lot of things that may change in their appearance.
Wearing
Winter is known for a lot of wind, often howling winds. Well this can be a tough thing for your garden furniture to deal with. Those winds can pick up dirt and dust and slam those pieces of debris into your furniture. While you may not think much of this, over time it can be extremely damaging.
In a sense, this process is much like sandblasting. The wind is literally blasting the finish of your furniture with sand and other debris. If allowed to go on for a long time this can start to wear away some of the paint, varnish or other finish on your furniture. This means the beautiful look they once had will now look much more faded and battered.
Cracking
A very common thing to happen, especially once the temperature dips into freezing, is that the finish on pieces of furniture can start to crack. From paint to varnish, it also reacts to those freezing temperatures by contracting. This means you will start to notice small cracks in the paint that can keep growing and expanding as the winter goes on.
Once you have these kinds of cracks in the paint, you may even start to notice chipping. This is where some of those pieces, that were weakened by the cracks, begin to come off of the piece altogether. This usually is a case where the only thing you can do is completely strip down the piece of furniture and refinish it all to make it look attractive again.
Fading
Another impact that winter weather can have on garden furniture is causing the colors to fade. Many people think that the sun is not intense or powerful in the winter because of the cold air. But that is not true. The sun can still have a fading effect on any colored pieces of furniture you have – from the fading of the cushions to the fading of paint on the surface. Adding to this is the fact that the furniture pieces will also be regularly battered by the wind and other weather attributes of winter, which will aid in the fading process.
When you add it all up, the weather of winter can really be brutal not only to your plants, but the garden furniture you use to enjoy looking at those plants. The best way to protect them is to cover or bring the furniture pieces in during the winter to avoid the damage that can be done.
Tags: Garden Furniture