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Garden furniture in winter: inside, outside or covered?

The Wood Guide · Care & finishing

Season · autumn and winter

Getting garden furniture ready for winter

Good news: your wooden garden furniture can cope with winter. What does cause damage is well-meant care done the wrong way. Here is what to bring in, what can stay out, and how to use a cover properly.

  • Frost is not a problem
  • A cover must breathe
  • Never into a heated room
fine to leave outside
Summary

Leaving it outside is fine — with three exceptions

Solid wooden garden furniture is made to stand outdoors, in winter and in frost too. Frozen wood does not burst like water in a pipe.

What really harms garden furniture in winter is not the cold but moisture that cannot escape: legs standing in a puddle for weeks, a tight tarpaulin with condensation trapped underneath, or cushions that stay wet. And the most common mistake of all: putting the furniture "safely" in a heated room.

Your furniture does turn greyer in winter. That is normal weathering, not damage — it is how wood protects itself outdoors.

The mistake that does more damage than frost

Furniture that moves from a wet garden into a dry, heated garage or conservatory dries out far too quickly. That is when you really get cracks. An unheated garden shed or a carport is fine; a heated room is not.

Stays outside
picnic tables · garden benches · garden tables · planters
Goes inside
cushions · lacquered beer tables · parasols
Cover
optional · must breathe · never over wet wood
Unheated garden shed
fine
Heated garage
don't
Legs
on tiles, not in a puddle

To be fair: furniture that spends the winter outside looks greyer and greener in March than in October. A clean in spring is part of the deal.

By item

What stays outside, what goes inside

Stays outside

Picnic tables, garden benches, garden tables, planters and play equipment in pressure-treated spruce, Douglas fir, teak or hardwood. They are made for wind and weather.

Cushions inside

Seat cushions are rarely waterproof. A cushion that stays wet for days goes mouldy. Store them dry, preferably not in a damp cellar.

Lacquered beer tables inside

Beer tables and beer benches are lacquered rather than pressure-treated, and made for use, not for permanent exposure to wind and weather. Fold them up and store them somewhere dry.

Parasols and loose accessories inside

A parasol left outside over winter loses its canopy sooner than its frame. The base can stay put.

Covering

A cover: do it properly or not at all

A cover is not needed to get your furniture through winter — the wood can do that on its own. What a cover does do: keep off green algae, leaf stains and bird droppings.

How a cover works

Use a cover that is open at the bottom or has vents, so moisture can escape. Only put it over dry furniture. Make sure rainwater runs off the cover and does not collect in a fold.

How a cover does not work

A tight plastic tarpaulin that reaches right down to the ground actually traps moisture against the wood. Under a tarpaulin like that you get exactly the mould and green algae you wanted to avoid. And a cover over wet furniture seals that moisture in all winter.

Our PVC covers are made to fit our picnic tables, including the square and round models.

Half an hour's work

Winter-ready in five steps

  1. CleaningLukewarm water, a soft brush and a little soft soap, in the direction of the grain. Leaves, dirt and green algae left lying over winter hold moisture. No pressure washer.
  2. Let it dry thoroughlyA few dry days, and only then put a cover over it if you want one.
  3. Cushions and lacquered wood insideStore cushions dry; fold up beer tables and beer benches and put them away.
  4. Keep the legs dryIf the furniture stands on grass or somewhere water collects, put the legs on a tile or paving pedestal. The end grain at the bottom of the legs has the hardest time in winter.
  5. Cover it — or notOnly a breathable cover, only over dry wood. If you don't want a cover, a spot under a canopy or in an unheated garden shed is a good alternative.
After winter

In spring

Clean and retighten

A good clean removes the winter green. Then retighten all bolts and screws: the wood has been moving all winter.

Oil, if you want to

If you want the warm colour back, sand lightly and oil on dry wood, not in full sun. How to do it: caring for wooden garden furniture.

Small cracks?

Fine lengthwise cracks after a winter are movement, not damage. When it is something, you can read in cracking and warping.

The garden itself

Tips for plants, pots and the garden around your furniture in the cold months: ten tips against frost.

Quick answer

Frequently asked questions about garden furniture in winter

Can wooden garden furniture stay outside in winter?

Yes. Picnic tables, garden benches and garden tables in pressure-treated spruce, Douglas fir, teak or hardwood can stay outdoors all year. Frost does wood no harm. Cushions and lacquered beer tables, however, should come inside.

Should I cover my picnic table in winter?

It isn't needed to protect the table, but a cover helps against green algae, leaf stains and bird droppings. Use a cover that breathes or is open at the bottom, and never put it over a wet table.

Can I put my garden furniture in the garage?

In an unheated garage, carport or garden shed, yes. In a heated room, no: the wood dries out too quickly there and that is when you really get cracks.

What should I do in spring after the winter?

Clean with lukewarm water, a soft brush and a little soft soap, let it dry thoroughly, and retighten all bolts and screws. If you want to oil, do it afterwards, on dry wood.

More in The Wood Guide

Safely through winter

A breathable cover, a dry place for the cushions, and your furniture is still there in spring.

Covers for picnic tables Caring for garden furniture To The Wood Guide

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