You don’t have to give up lumber to live in a desert
By Scott Calhoun
Special to the Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona

When it comes to building materials for outdoor furniture in desert climates, wood is the redheaded stepchild.
Concerns about dry rot, termites and sun damage tend to steer people toward plastic, steel and aluminum — materials that look good but lend themselves to mass production rather than personalization. Which brings us back to good old wood. Yes, wood requires more upkeep in the desert than some other materials, but it also has big advantages for the do-it-yourselfer.
Consider: Wood is easy to work with; wood is cheap; wood does not get scorching hot in the summer sun; and wood can be painted bright colors to match almost any garden décor or house trim.
On Tucson’s Southeast Side, Penny Pederson needed some sturdy, cheap furniture that could be built by volunteers and painted bright colors by children for the Civano community garden. She found plans for simple furniture that could be made entirely out of standard 2-by-4 lumber. Adult volunteers built the furniture, and children painted with patterns from Joan Miró and Georgia O’Keeffe paintings.
“We were really pleased at how it turned out,” Pederson says. “It is simple and handmade, just like the rest of the garden.”
Other Tucson homeowners have taken classic outdoor furniture designs like the Adirondack chair and customized them for the Southwest. Duane Bateman, a Tucson resident and former professional carpenter, found a plan in Sunset magazine for a clean-lined chair called the Sunset Chair.
“Except for where my dog chewed on a leg, the chair has been outside for over five years with minimal maintenance. I just primed and painted the chairs after I first built them,” says Bateman. Plans for the Sunset Chair are available free on the Internet.
New York City’s beloved Wave Hill garden offers plans for modern-style Adirondack chairs that look smart on contemporary desert patios. Based on a 1918 design by the acclaimed Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld, the Wave Hill chair is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Massachusetts-based garden book editor Carleen Madigan Perkins — a twentysomething who describes herself as an “enthusiastic novice who knows how to operate power tools” — built a Wave Hill chair for her husband with little experience and minimal tools. Perkins says she enjoys making furniture because “it’s usually less expensive, definitely more creative, and, if it’s a gift, I feel like it’s appreciated more. I also love the smell of wood.”
● Scott Calhoun is a local freelance garden writer.