How to Build an English-Style Burkholder Range Garden Bench

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on March 1, 1988
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The garden bench, or
The garden bench, or "range", endures in many forms and has long since come out of the garden and onto the porch or open lawn.
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Diagram: Arm and seat rail.
Diagram: Arm and seat rail.
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Diagram: Cross section of garden bench.
Diagram: Cross section of garden bench.
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Diagram: Back of garden bench.
Diagram: Back of garden bench.
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Diagram: Lettered pieces of garden bench corresponding to garden bench cutting and materials guide.
Diagram: Lettered pieces of garden bench corresponding to garden bench cutting and materials guide.
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Diagram: Base structure of garden bench.
Diagram: Base structure of garden bench.
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Diagram: Garden bench chart cutting and materials guide.
Diagram: Garden bench chart cutting and materials guide.

A classic British-style Burkholder Range garden bench for the American builder.

How to Build an English-Style Burkholder Range Garden Bench

Whether just a simple courtyard or an ambitious showcase, the garden-as-retreat has always been a calming, secluded and inviting spot, where a comfortable place to sit is as welcome as the plantings themselves.

Traditionally, the best garden benches have been made of teak or some other rot-resistant wood such as mahogany. But prohibitive costs and a conscious awareness of the significance of tropical rain forests–from which much of this imported wood is harvested–has noticeably altered this practice.

Nonetheless, the garden bench, or “range”, endures in many forms and has long since come out of the garden and onto the porch or open lawn. MOTHER staffer Dennis Burkholder recently made his contribution to the genre with the model you see here and put his name to it just to preserve tradition. It’s pleasing enough to the eye, but its real beauty results from its careful planning. (See the garden bench diagrams in the image gallery.)

For one, every bit of wood in it is a standard board size–either 1 by 4 or 1 by 8. For a painted finish, a clear pine or any common lumber stock will work well, but a natural surface demands a more resistant species such as redwood, cedar or cypress. Oak should be considered only if it’s kiln-dried and well protected with several coats of gloss or spar varnish.

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