Preparing your garden furniture for summer

Cleaning your garden furniture just twice a year, in spring and autumn, is plenty. Here are a few maintenance tips to get your furniture ready for summer.

Wooden garden furniture is more fragile and must be maintained with care. Genuine solid teak is highly resistant to moisture, but when exposed to sunlight and weather, it will eventually grey.

• If you want your wooden furniture to retain its original colour, coat it twice a year with teak oil, using a brush or cloth.
• Remove stains with water and a mild detergent. Rinse, sand lightly with sandpaper and dry.

• Clean furniture made with more common woods using a nylon brush (or sand them slightly if the surface has been damaged), dry them well with a slightly damp sponge and leave to dry. Then cover them with a mixture of equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine.
• If a table is badly stained from grease or marks left by hot plates, go over it with the electric sander before oiling.

Algae, moss or moulds grow on statues, bird baths and other items exposed to moisture and heat. Add to that dust, dead organic matter and bird droppings and you get a nice thick layer of dirt.

The following method is suitable for almost all common materials, cement, stone or polyester resin.

• Clean your garden ornaments with bleach (one to two parts bleach to five parts water) and a few drops of dish-washing liquid.
• Stir well so that the mixture foams.
• Apply it using a long-handled brush and rub vigorously.
• Rinse with the garden hose.

Remember that bleach is harmful to the plants in your garden, so move the items to be cleaned to a safe place before cleaning.

• If they can't be moved due to their size, use the least amount of cleaning solution possible and rinse with a sponge dipped in a bucket of clear water instead of using the garden hose.
• Never use bleach to scour a fish pond.
• If cleaning a bird bath, be sure to rinse it thoroughly to remove all traces.

With fresh, clean garden furniture you'll be able to enjoy your backyard all summer long.