Shady Garden Bench

Wattle Woods Garden Bench

The Wattle Woods garden bench, deep in the shade of the Wattle trees, is a place for calm meditation.

It's surrounded by mass plantings of Renga Renga and Japanese Iris. Overhead the huge trees give welcome shade in summer.

Secret Garden Seat

It's a secret seat, peaceful and quiet when the wind is calm. Humans can rarely find me here. But my cats know that I sit here in summer, and it's never long before one of them arrives. And of course the dog just uses his nose!

The garden bench itself is just a slab of heavy Macracarpa wood resting on two towers of bricks. It's sturdy - well, sturdy enough for one gardener and a couple of cats.

A Stable Bench!

And oddly for one of my moveable garden features, this bench hasn't moved in over ten years. Paths and plants have come and gone, trees have even blown down in winter snow storms, but the Wattle Woods Garden bench has stayed put, withstanding the tests of time (and the random whims of the Head Gardener). It's an heirloom!

cat on the Garden Bench

Birds Beware!

Sifter the cat has ulterior motives for sitting on this garden bench in the Wattle Woods. The trees are home to a large group of fantails, and these birds hover near people, hoping for insects to be stirred up in the air. Fantails give the impression of being rather too tame for their own good!

The birds are usually far too clever for any of the Moosey cats though - they'll duck and dive and swoop around, but never too close. Sometimes I think they're just teasing.

Footnote

Sifter the tabby cat is no longer with us. But I certainly took a million and one photographs of him posing in the garden - he can definitely never be forgotten.