If you are considering purchasing teak garden furniture, you should know that you are buying beautiful and durable furniture that can last for a century or more. Furniture has been made from teak for hundreds of years and it is also used quite frequently in ships and other nautical applications because it is so water resistant. This makes it much less likely to rot when exposed to the environment.

Teak is a hardwood which is very resistant to rot and pests. Its close, dense grain and high resin content makes it difficult for water to penetrate the wood, which can lead to rotting and disintegration. There is actually silica which naturally occurs in the wood and this helps prevent rotting, mould and insects from getting into the wood and destroying it.

Most teak is grown in areas such as Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos. Originally, all teak furniture was made from wild trees and this caused problems with deforestation. Now, however, teak plantations have been regulated by government agencies and much of the teak used in furniture comes from these plantations. The one main problem with teak is that it takes in the neighborhood of fifty years to grow and this is part of what makes it so expensive to purchase.