Well, Â*we finally finished the frame for our Pecan garden bench. It is more of a throne so hence the name. Now I have to decide what to weave the seat out of, I am trying to deciding between willow or from the vines found in the woods nearby. I would like to use something that would allow me to weave a design into the back. Any suggestions on a natural material to use?
This was made out of Â*broken branches from the ice storm.

Do you have access to any of the tall grasses?? When mixed in with rushes or other fibres???? I see it a lot in the New Guinean weaving that they sell at our farmer's market.
Just a thought
Bina[smile]

I grow the giant Pampas grass. It gets about 15-20 feet tall when in bloom. It is prety tough and almost impossible to break when green. It has those pesky razor edges on the backs of the long blades though.

Uaine wrote:
I grow the giant Pampas grass. It gets about 15-20 feet tall when in bloom. It is prety tough and almost impossible to break when green. It has those pesky razor edges on the backs of the long blades though.

Gotta watch out for those sharp edges! We have pampas grass bordering our property with our neighbor....it actually sits on my neighbor's property, but they never touch, prune, or pick up the dead blades. So, I usually end up tackling it once a year or so, and no matter what gloves or protective clothing I wear, I still get cut up pretty good. It IS pretty strong when dry though...the smaller blades always look like curled wood shavings to me.

By the way, I love your bench!!

Sorry when I think tall grass I think Prairie tall grasses and some of those are not sharp edged. Â*I think sweet grass, blue grass and a few others. Â*LOL those won't bite your butt.
Once you get it figured repost it so we can see how it turns out.
A meditation chair for your spiral maybe??
Cheers
Bina [grin]

Something really strong to use to weave a backing that will last forever is wine vine. If you get it in March it is growing and supple- just take out all of the leaders and you can make a very strong structure for a chair backing. ONce in place it is impossible to unweave after it hardens. I use it to make wreaths.

peace,
JB

Being the impatient person that I am, I opted to purchase jute rope to finish the bench. It keeps the bench all natural,is nature friendly and will last a good while. This is the finished product along with some stools made from my maple that lost a huge limb. The table is barn wood and Pecan. Now we have a complete seating group for a new garden area.

Waaaaaaaaay cool, Uaine! They turned out great!

Awesome Uaine! The Throne is great!!

I love all of it. I have a large mirror that has barn wood around it, I love it!

How FREAKIN Cool!
love the weave job and those stools are sweeeeeet....for the frogs to sit on!