What sort of parasol is right for your garden?

Why do you need a cantilever parasol rather than a regular brolly? I have the answers so keep reading

Regular brollys are so useful, you can chuck them in the boot for a picnic, stick them in the sand on the beach and generally grab them at a moments notice. All useful but for the annoying fact that when your brolly is over your garden table you end up peering around the pole to talk to your friend on the other side, food can't be placed in the middle of the table, and you end up passing items around it again and again.

So what to do? It's time to take a look at a cantilever (also known as banana) parasol. These parasols are off set meaning that the pole is to the side and the huge canopy can hang over a table causing absolutely no obstructions. Handy eh?

Cantilever Parasol

Cantilever parasols can look precarious, well I guess they are if you don't secure them! Securing them is straight forward and actually if you are in a sheltered area not much effort is required on your part. Heavy slabs can be used to hold the base down, or the whole base can be fitted into the actual patio slabs. Alternatively you can screw the base to the ground or bury a pole to drop the parasol pole into. 

The design of a cantilever parasol means that the canopy can be very large and easily moved around to follow the sun, just swing the arm into position, they even tilt. This means that you have a very large shade on hand and in place at anytime of the day and a quick gust of wind is not going to send it sailing over the fence into the neighbours garden.

I think for me though the best reason to get a cantilever parasol is that they just look fantastic. As soon as I put mine up my garden is transformed into a swish terrace that reminds me of past holidays in far away lands.

Don't forget to get a parasol cover for it. The winter months and even harsh summer sun could take its toll so slide a cover over the parasol to keep it in tip top condition all year round.

Happy summer, Laura