Having a garden arbour bench in a garden behind your home is one of the best ways to get some peace and quiet. Tending to your plants is a hobby that is refreshing and rewarding, and spending time in a garden is just blissful. Arbours are one of my favorite features of a well-designed garden, especially when they have a bench.
On your garden arbour bench, you can sit and get lost in the simple beauty of flowers in the springtime, or the autumn leaves. Check out this collection of garden arbour bench ideas, and use them to get to work on your own backyard oasis!
What is a Garden Arbour Bench?
Arbours are wooden structures that are used as support for vines and other plants that need something to grab onto. They allow the vines to grow healthily and look amazing. Arbours form a kind of natural, green arch that you can use to lay out an amazing garden path.
Arbour benches are exactly what they sound like: a pretty, shady place to rest and enjoy the beauty of your garden. Or, in movies, a perfect place to fall in love!
Arbour benches are usually attached to the arbour itself, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Let’s take a look at some amazing examples of serene garden arbour benches!
Garden Arbour Bench – 21 Ideas So Serene You’ll Never Leave!
1. Suburban Simplicity
This arbour has luscious green vines growing on it, that still have a ways to go before they overtake the whole structure. This makes the lighting nice and shady while still letting some sunlight through, creating a very peaceful atmosphere.
The Arbour and bench are made from simple, everyday wood, and that makes it feel like a laid-back, welcoming place to relax!
2. Green Plants, Green Paint
This garden arbour bench does a great job of letting the garden, not the wooden features, take center stage. This is a phenomenally well-kept and planned garden, and the arbour bench is placed to the side so that it can be enjoyed.
Picture yourself sitting here, in the stillness of the morning, with a hot cup of coffee and nothing to do. How amazing would that be?
3. Arbour, Vines, Swing
This pergola-style arbour looks amazing and has some vines making their way up. I really like the flowering in the garden- the red and violet colors are very peaceful and calming. You could sit, sway, and leave all your stress someplace else if you had this awesome arbour swing!
4. Japanese-Style Arbour
There are few things in this world more peaceful than a Japanese garden, and this arbour is the perfect way to have that in your own garden. I love the color of the wood, and the gentle curve formed at the top of the arbour.
If you’re planning out your garden and think you have room for one of these, there’s no reason not to get it! Oh, and did I mention the swing? Another fantastic touch.
5. Simple Green Vines
What I really like about this garden arbour bench is that the vines that have grown over it feel like a natural extension of the wooded area behind it. It blends into the surroundings, making it feel less man-made and more like a hidden and tranquil place to escape to.
If you find yourself in need of a little spot that’s all your own, this garden arbour bench might be right for you!
6. Backyard Sitting Spot
This quaint suburban garden is nestled right next to the house, and the pink flowers on the vines make it seem like a happy place to be. It’s not excessive, ornate, or showy; it’s simply a place where you can sit beneath the vines that are growing above you and providing shade and privacy.
For people with smaller yards, this can be used as a great example of making the most of a smaller space!
7. Shabby-Chic Garden Arbour Bench
I mean, wow! The flowers in bloom, the rustic, worn bench beneath it, and the plants surrounding it make this arbour feel completely hidden. If it were tucked away in a forest, it would probably have to be found by accident.
Out of every arbour on this list, this one might have the most Instagram potential! It’s definitely worthy of more than a few photoshoots, that much is for sure!
8. Charming Double Arbour Bench
This rustic arbour bench has, well, two benches. It’s a great place for sitting, reading, and enjoying a bit of the outdoors. I really like the faded paint and the old brick that it sits on top of. It gives off the impression that, over time, nature and man-made materials have grown together.
9. Wisteria Blossoms
The gorgeous Wisteria blossoms atop this garden arbour with a bench are overflowing and almost seem like they’re cascading down like a floral waterfall. The double bench is shaded in a rather magnificent fashion, and it’s a unique and amazing design idea.
I like that all this is accomplished while at the same time not feeling like it’s gone overboard.
10. White Double Bench
This is a dreamy arbour bench if there ever was one. The flower petals are falling gently around the scene, and all the colors combine to create a light, surreal environment.
I mentioned earlier that arbour benches are a great place to fall in love, and this is definitely one of them! This is the place anyone would be lucky to be able to take their special someone (or just read a book if you’re feeling more solitary).
11. Hidden Seating
One of the best things about arbours is that they fade from view as the years go by. This arbour is almost invisible at this point, as the pear trees that it supports have really overtaken it.
The bench underneath is old and faded but big enough to seat more than a couple of people. Like a fine wine, a great garden arbour bench will only get better with age!
12. Mediterranean Style Estate
This arbour, compared to others on the list, is pretty massive. It’s constructed with Mediterranean-inspired columns and feels like an old-world vineyard. The simple stone bench is unassuming and brings the whole scene together.
It definitely won’t look right in a tiny suburban backyard, but if you have the space, it could become your favorite spot on your property!
13. Large Arbour with Bench Swing
I love the way this garden arbour creates a large space; many arbours are intentionally small, but this one takes up lots of open room to create an airy, luxurious look. The dark-painted wood and vines gently growing around it all make this a simply wonderful way to hide from the sun!
14. Rustic Double Bench Arbour
For the rustic crowd, there is so much to love about this arbour. It’s constructed with rugged, raw wood and feels a lot like what you might find in a national park lodge or hunting cabin.
If you’ve got that homestead spirit in you, and you want your garden to have some rustic charm, this type of garden arbour bench is going to be perfect for you. I love the creative craftsmanship that went into it; the builders clearly had lots of patience and ability to improvise!
15. City-Style Arbour Bench
If you live in a more urban area, with less open spaces and backyard land to go around, you might be wondering how you, too, can have a garden arbour bench.
This is a fantastic example of a garden arbour bench idea being used in a courtyard; the black paint and simple green vines help it all blend into the brick surroundings and not look out of place.
As somebody who’s lived most of their life in concrete jungles, I really appreciate this design!
16. Charming Natural Wood Arbour
This is about as laid back as it gets. The arbour is made from simple wood and has some vines growing on it. The swinging bench, though, is made in a rustic style using raw wood.
It comes together in a really nice way and is the perfect way to enjoy the pond and garden that surrounds it. I could imagine myself spending many a cool morning here, reading alone and ignoring the craziness of the world!
17. Luxurious Garden, Simple Arbour
One of the best ways to include an arbour in your garden is to tuck it at the very edge, overlooking the entire garden, or at the end of the garden path. It provides a nice ending point to the garden path, and feels secluded both and tranquil.
This well-manicured garden has an unassuming arbour and bench at the end of its path and it creates a very symmetrical, polished look.
18. Triple Bench Swings
This is a magnificent, large, and detailed arbour that features a total of three different bench swings! If you’ve got a massive yard or want to create a large pavilion-like garden for entertaining, this is certainly a great place to start.
The arbour, massive though it is, isn’t overwhelmingly decorated or excessive, which helps it blend in to the land.
19. Right-Angle Arbour Bench
Perfect for tucking into the corner of a fenced-in yard, or creating a peaceful sitting area in the grass, this “arbour-at-an-angle” has a lot to offer. It provides a very natural and open seating area for multiple people, even in the midst of a garden.
If you had this, and you put a little table in front of the benches, this garden arbour would actually make a perfectly quaint breakfast nook!
20. Courtyard Garden Retreat
This brick and wood arbour at the edge of a cozy courtyard is exactly what you want in a backyard seating area. It’s not fussy, it’s not hard to maintain, and it lets you spend enjoying the peace and quiet.
It’s an excellent addition to a nice courtyard environment, and could be just what you need in your own home!
21. Futuristic Natural Arbour
I saved the coolest, most creative arbour for last! This is an incredible garden arbour bench design; it uses natural, flexible wood that’s been bent and woven together. This careful construction results in a completely unique arbour that looks like a pod or some kind of 1970’s egg chair- but made of trees and plants.
Can you imagine what it will look like when it’s finished, covered in vines and flowers? You could hide in there for days, relaxing and enjoying the wonders of nature. This might be my favorite arbour creation of all time!