My general preference is for the rustic look. We have no formal garden art in our woodlands. I prefer plants and rocks, etc. to formal art in the woodlands setting but have seen some people pull it off nicely. Garden art seems to work best when not too cluttered. However, what is tasteful to me is boring to others.
For paths, we use mostly woodchips that we get free when the arborist does work for us. Arborists that don't do work for us have also given us woodchips. We also use crushed stone and gravel for some path locations. The gravel and crushed stone lasts longer but the woodchips are free and feel nice underfoot. We made and installed several bluebird houses which fit in nicely. We also have a black tin birdhouse which got inhabited faster than the ones we made from the fancy plans.
For seating we have various size tree trunk sections and have also made rustic benches from large pieces of cut trees (similar to the rustic benches you see at many nature preserves). We have some sand as "flooring" in one sitting area and wood chips in others. Ticks are a problem around here so we do not like a lot of vegetation or clutter right in the immediate sitting areas (off of the paths and sitting areas we love having lots of vegetation). With more money and time and back strength I would probably opt for gravel and sand or paving stones in all of the sitting areas for the sake of comfort and tick prevention even though that does not blend into the woods as well.
A water source is great for attracting birds and other animals. We have a bird bath that I inherited. If I hadn't inherited one I would probably have opted for one that is more natural looking, like a basin carved into a block of granite (beautiful but expensive). We also have natural water sources which the critters like. Bird feeders will bring a lot of life to a garden and do not look so out of place. However, I learned from experience not to put bird feeders anywhere to close to where you plan to sit since the birds make a mess.

Bob,

I would love to see a picture of the benches you made out of trees.

Thanks Bob for taking time to thoroughly address each of my questions. Your description and opinions is exactly what I'm needing! I knew I came to the right place.

Your tree bench sounds perfect! I have pictured a sitting place in the back of my garden, where it gets more dense, for quite a while now, but just can't seem to find the right look. Walmart had a great looking rustic bench of a simulated tree trunk, but I wasn't willing to pay $200 for it. Could you describe how you made it?

I'm looking forward to reading about many more of your gardens. Am I correct in gathering from Bob's post that what you put in your woodland garden is really a matter of personal taste and not a strict rule? :)

Here's a link to a log bench I had in my woodland garden. Dear Hubby made it for me, but it rotted away over the years. It originally had bark, but that was the first to go. The legs are two smaller logs that were hacked out a little to have a place for the main log to rest.

I've been using a plastic bench the last two years, but he's in the process of making one out of a cedar slab which he says will last a hundred years. If it'll only last 50, I'll be happy.

I don't have much in the way of decoration - a few rocks and rocks lining most of the trail. There was a rustic brown birdbath that was brown concrete that the cats kept tipping over. The trail mulches itself in the fall with leaves. Some of the trail is getting mossy now. I try to use shrubs for accents.

It's your garden. If you think something is pretty, you'll enjoy seeing it in your garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1354756}}

The log bench described above by barbaraga shows the kind of bench we made. Natural wood does decay but we usually get a few years out of our "furniture". The cedar bench sounds great and the flat cedar slab will probably sit better than a rounded log.
I think that what you put in your garden is generally a matter of taste. If I was to suggest any rule (beyond whatever the law provides) I would say "do no harm". By that I mean try not to plant invasive plants that will become other people's problems and try not to damage the ground water, etc. I would also say try and have fun. This stuff can become obsessive but the challenges can themselves be fun and rewarding.

Barbaraga, thanks for the picture. What are the purple flowers?

Barbara, a picture is worth a thousand words for sure. I wanted to be sitting there! :)

Bob, My garden is now in its 4th yr. I have a small pond, which is the main feature. A lot of critters from the woods visit it. It's lined with river rock of different sizes and surrounded with ferns and various grasses. Beside it is a small concrete bench. The garden begins from a "fire patio" (we call it), which is made of natural stone, where the barbeque and a fire pit is located. From there is a path, that is made of the same stone, (which has mulch between the stones) that leads to the pond. The stone has now aged and looks great. I wouldn't change a thing about that part of my garden. It's taken a lot of time and effort and yes, (you are right) a little obsession. It took me 2 yrs to figure out that the mulch between the stones made it look rustic! lol After that, the paths are sand and shredded leaves.

The reason for my post is that I've recently took on a battle with the poison oak that insists taking over the back of the garden, where it becomes more dense. Some good people here have helped a lot in that regard. I know this will time, more than one season, but in the meantime, I am trying to get ideas as to how I want to treat that area and I'm leaning toward a sitting area that will blend nicely into the rest of the woods.

My main obsession now is how to make that sitting area "friendly" and putting down something (a type of floor) that will block the poison oak and I'm leaning toward the natural stone. Currently the poison oak creeps right across the shredded leave path.
Any thoughts? (I've even considered giving up the sitting area and making a totum pole out of a cut off tree.! lol) So, you can see ANY suggestions are welcome! :)

I have bird houses in my woodland garden. I have collected and built all sorts. I have a "town" one might say. No benches as the mosquitoes would chase anyone out in two seconds. I have a bird bath made out of an old cream bucket from a creamery and a large plate that was to go under pots. I also have an old buck board that looks like it has been sitting there since they unhitched the horses. We did not know it was there when we bought the place. It was a find when we debrambled the woods nearest our lawn. I use it to hold an assortment of old trunks, pails, washtubs which I plant annuals in for some color. My kitchen window looks out upon the buckboard. In one section closest to the house I have about 20 little men living in amongst the plants. As the season gets older they become harder and harder to find. Here also is parked the old trike with the basket still attached my kids used to ride. Another good place for a few annuals. To each their own I say. My kids and I made stepping stones years ago. They now are the path that leads one to the buck board. Their art, nature's beauty, a great combo. I have lined the woods/lawn with field stone. This makes the boarder very natural looking.

Poison oak is tough. I would suggest that you kill off as much of it as you can in any area you plan to turn into a sitting area before doing anything else to the area. I once spent several weekends clipping poison ivy vines to make paths more inhabitable. It helped but I did pay the inevitable price for messing with poison ivy. A normal mulch won't stop it much. I think you are right to go with flat stones for your sitting area that is threatened by poison oak. The poison oak might grow under, around and over stones but it can't go through the stones. When it does pop up it will be very exposed on the stones and easier to spray or cut or whatever.

Hi Teri, The purple flowers in the foreground are Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata) and the purple flowers around the bench are a biennial Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida).

Thanks Bob, problem solved then. I'm using the stone and yes, I also feel that whatever poison oak grows on the stones will be easy to pull or cut away.

Arcy, your garden sounds like a place of wonder, especially for the kids. My grandkids(boy 4 yrs. and girl 1 1/2 yrs.) use the garden more than anyone. I have a section leading to the pond that is adorned with "trinkets" amongst the shrubs for them to find. Anything from small resin animals and bugs to chimes hung low for them to see and touch.
You and Bob mentioned bird houses and feeders. I have 2 feeders on my lawn, near the garden front, but I totally forgot about birdhouses. I use to have one in my garden that was built to look like a little log cabin with a front porch, but it rotted and died over the years. I love your little "village" description, sounds great. You gave me a great idea; wouldn't some birdhouses be great to look at near the back sitting area?! And I might even get lucky and some take up residence.
Thanks, I'm now going to start keeping an eye out for some unique little country style birdhouses. :)

Your ideas and descriptions are helping calm the confusion and I'm even getting a renewed vision of the space.

As a child I always had fishtanks.I would spend hours with my nose up against the glass wishing That I could swim among them.So I installed a swim-fish pond where I can do just that.By damning a small creek on my property I impounded enough water to create a pond 125 ft across and 10 ft deep,I stocked it with native fish,and planted it with native plants.Its nestled in a wooded ravine near my house hiden by the surround pondedge flora and shaded by large oaks so it stays fairly cold,and is a magnet to all sorts of fish eaters,and swimmers.And of course there is a ropeswing

Hello,

Better try any garden furniture accessories store there you will get all kind of information and items regarding garden decoration.

Regards,
sarah_9

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Furniture Accessories

Since my original post I have added some deer. Old light up Christmas decorations that no longer light up. I have a family group and they look very happy hiding in the Hosta. I also have a moose. He is only wire, so tough to see. In a sunnier spot I am trying my luck at topiary. I am using old angel frames (Christmas discards again) and training wild vines onto their skirts. They keep me company as I sit and read on my new patio. I still have no benches in the woods. My garden is narrow enough one can see from the edge of the lawn, and there are no bugs there to chase a looker away.