Garden Furniture

How to choose garden furniture

Garden furniture has the hardest brief of anything in the catalogue. It needs to look right when the patio doors are open in May, sit through five months of weather it wasn't really designed for, and still pull off a Sunday lunch the following August. Three things decide whether a set lasts five years or two: the material, the cover, and where it sits when it's not in use.

Material is the headline choice and the price driver.

• Synthetic rattan over an aluminium or steel frame is the dominant value option, ranging from around £200 for a four-seater bistro to £1,500 for a corner lounge set. Resists rain well, fades in strong sun over a few summers, and the cushions live in the shed when it's not in use.
• Hardwood (teak, eucalyptus, acacia) sits at the upper end. Ages to a silvery patina if left untreated, or stays honey-coloured with an annual coat of teak oil. Heavy, expensive, and lasts a decade-plus if covered in winter.
• Aluminium with mesh or sling fabric is the lightest option and the easiest to move into shade. Powder-coated aluminium handles the British weather without rusting, which steel doesn't.
• Pine and softwoods are the cheapest entry point and the shortest-lived. Without an annual treatment they'll start to grey and split inside three seasons.

Storage and cover matter as much as the build. A £900 hardwood dining set left uncovered through a wet October ages faster than a £400 rattan set under a fitted cover. Most manufacturers sell matching covers separately, and the spend is worth it. If you're tight on space, look at folding pieces or modular sets that stack.

Set type follows how you actually use the garden. A four-seater dining set is right if Sunday lunch outside is the goal. A corner lounge set with a low coffee table is right for evening drinks and reading. A bistro for two suits a balcony or a small paved area near the back door. Mixing pieces from the same range is fine; mixing materials usually looks busy.

One practical note on timing: garden furniture stock peaks in March and clears through August. The best end-of-line discounts run from late September through October, when retailers are making space for indoor stock. If you can wait, that's the window.

The brands and retailers we list

We pull garden furniture from a range of UK retailers. The ones below show up most often.

Robert Dyas is the biggest single source for us in this category, with around 240 sets and standalone pieces. Strong on rattan and aluminium dining sets in the £300 to £800 bracket, often with multibuy discounts on cushions and covers.

Furniture in Fashion covers the mid-to-upper end with around 70 listings, leaning into rattan corner sets and hardwood dining ranges. Delivery is slower than the high-street pieces, but the spec usually justifies it.

The Range stocks the broader value end, including parasols, planters and folding bistros that sit alongside the bigger sets in the same delivery slot.

Maze Rattan and Alexander Rose are the recognised garden specialists in the listing. Maze for synthetic rattan corner sets and fire-pit dining tables (£600 to £2,500); Alexander Rose for British-spec hardwood ranges that have been around long enough to have a real warranty story.

Filter the grid above by colour, material or price to narrow things down, or browse the full garden furniture range without filters to see everything in stock. Prices update daily.