The end of an era for my old benches

[Patmet]

I built benches for my backyard around 5 years ago, with the goal of being;

1) As cheap and easy as possible
2) Non permanent
3) Easy enough to relocate in the yard
4) High enough to be safe from my dogs

They have been surprisingly reliable and lasted 5 years without a problem. They were built using treated pine round fence posts cut to length, with a 2400 x 600mm film coated form board on top with 4 screws down into each post. I drilled lots of holes along the form board as well to assist with drainage.

I have since landscaped a purpose built area in my yard for bonsai, that is gated to keep the dogs out when I'm not there. Recently the top boards of my original benches have started to rot and sag, so it's come time to scrap them and spend some more money on something more permanent and nicer looking.

I've kept the new benches pretty basic comprising of 6 heavy limestone blocks with 3 2400 x 200mm treated pine sleepers on top with a 10mm gap between each. (I would have liked to use jarrah sleepers, but it would have blown out my budget too much). I've then just got 4 90 x 20mm treated pine pickets screwed underneath the sleepers to bond them all together.

I have 2 other benches I built in recent years out of pine with mesh tops that I'm using for a lot of my growing stock now.

Still not enough bench space for all my stock, but I'm working on slowly reducing it still.

Screenshot_20240127_155541_Gallery.jpg

Original benches a couple of years ago

Screenshot_20240127_144051_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_144101_Gallery.jpg

Original benches Jan 2024 you can see the water damage

Screenshot_20240127_144106_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_144133_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_144201_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_144157_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_144148_Gallery.jpg

New benches

Screenshot_20240127_155457_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_155833_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20240127_155838_Gallery.jpg

Pine benches I built a couple of years ago now for my growing stock

[SuperBonSaiyan]

I like the limestone blocks, they look great.

[JimmyTheSkip]

Looks great. Good job. Really like the Limestone look.

[Patmet]

Thanks guys. I have limestone rubble as ground cover so thought I would stick with that coastal mediterranean theme. Next job will be to go through all my retic again and fine tune/improve it.

[Matthew]

The addiction that is bonsai.Never enough room or benches sometimes..... The hard part is weaning off the addiction. took me 20 years or so .
p.s. i like the benches

[ErnestGreen]

It sounds like your original bonsai benches were a solid DIY project, lasting well for five years. However, now that the boards are starting to rot and sag, it's understandable that you're looking for something more permanent and aesthetically pleasing. You might consider using more durable materials like hardwood, composite decking, or even metal for the structure. Elevated benches with proper drainage can also help extend the life of the setup while enhancing the overall look of your bonsai display area.