To stop a garden furniture cover blowing away, secure it at three points: tighten the built in drawcord or straps at the base, add weight inside the cover at low level, and anchor it to something fixed such as the furniture legs, a ground peg or a wall hook. A cover that is loose at the hem will lift in wind no matter how heavy the fabric is, because wind gets underneath and inflates it.<\/p>\n
Understanding why covers fail makes the fixes obvious. Wind does not usually tear a cover off the top. It finds a gap at the bottom, pushes air in, and the cover becomes a balloon. Once inflated, the whole thing lifts. So the aim is not simply to hold the cover down but to stop air entering underneath in the first place.<\/p>\n
An oversized cover is the most common cause of the problem. Spare fabric flaps, catches wind and eventually splits at the seams. Measure the furniture at its widest and tallest points, including any raised parasol or cushion stack, and choose a cover that matches those dimensions closely rather than generously.<\/p>\n
Stack the furniture before covering it where you can. Chairs tucked under the table, or stacked and placed beside it, create a compact shape with fewer edges for wind to catch. A tall, narrow covered shape is more vulnerable than a low, wide one, so keep the profile as low as the set allows.<\/p>\n
Look for covers with a drawcord or elasticated hem, reinforced seams and air vents. Vents matter twice over: they let pressure escape instead of inflating the cover, and they reduce the trapped damp that causes mould on cushions and rust on frames.<\/p>\n
The simplest and most effective fix is weight placed low and inside the cover. Two or three sandbags, paving slabs, or containers filled with water sitting on the seat bases or on the ground beneath the table will hold the cover in place without straining the fabric.<\/p>\n
Keep the weight at the bottom, not on top. Weight on the tabletop stops the middle lifting but leaves the hem free to inflate, which is where the trouble starts. Weight around the perimeter closes the gap.<\/p>\n
Heavy furniture helps for the same reason. Solid timber and stone topped pieces resist wind far better than lightweight aluminium, which can move as a whole once the cover catches the air. If your garden is exposed, weight in the furniture itself is worth prioritising, and there are substantial designs in our modern garden benches UK sale<\/a> that stay put through a rough night.<\/p>\n Once the fit and weight are right, add anchoring. There are several approaches, and most gardens need only one.<\/p>\n Bungee cords looped around the furniture legs through the cover hem are quick and effective. Run the cord under the table between opposite legs so the tension pulls the cover inwards and downwards rather than sideways.<\/p>\n Ground pegs or tent stakes work where the furniture stands on grass or soil. Push them in at an angle away from the cover and tie the hem loops to them. On paved patios, use a screw in eye plate at the base of a wall, or a heavy planter as a tie point. Large planters double as useful windbreaks along the exposed side of a patio, and our modern garden planters UK sale<\/a> includes designs with enough mass to serve both purposes.<\/p>\n Ratchet straps give the most secure result on exposed sites. One strap around the middle of the covered set and one around the base, tightened enough to hold but not enough to strain the seams, will keep a cover in place in strong wind. Protect the fabric with a folded cloth at any point the strap crosses a sharp edge.<\/p>\n Where you put the covered furniture over winter is half the battle. Wind accelerates through gaps between buildings and along fence lines, so the middle of an open lawn or a narrow passage beside the house are the worst places to leave a covered set.<\/p>\n Move the furniture into the most sheltered corner you have, ideally with a wall or a solid fence on the prevailing wind side. In most of the UK that is the south west, so shelter on that side does the most good. Placing the set against a wall also removes one entire side from the wind, which halves the number of edges that can lift.<\/p>\n Avoid positions under overhanging branches, since falling twigs abrade the cover and rain concentrates in one spot.<\/p>\n A cover is a compromise. If you have the space, storing furniture out of the weather removes the problem entirely and extends the life of frames and fabrics considerably. Cushions in particular should never overwinter outdoors, even under a cover, because trapped damp encourages mould in the filling.<\/p>\n Where there is no shed or garage, a lockable outdoor storage box or a small garden store handles cushions and smaller items, and the frames can then be covered with a much smaller, tighter cover. Our modern garden storage UK sale<\/a> covers plastic, timber and metal options in sizes that fit alongside a patio.<\/p>\n Folding and stacking designs are worth considering if storage is the recurring problem. A folded table and stacked chairs take a fraction of the space, and there is no cover to manage at all.<\/p>\n Check the cover after any strong wind. A small tear at a seam grows quickly once air is getting through, and it is far easier to repair early with outdoor fabric tape. Clean off leaves and standing water from the top surface, since pooled water stretches the fabric and adds weight in one spot.<\/p>\n Do not put a cover over wet cushions or a damp frame, as it seals the moisture in. Let everything dry first, even if that means waiting a day. In spring, wash the cover, dry it fully and store it flat rather than screwed up in a corner, which is how creases become splits.<\/p>\n Parasols deserve separate attention. Always close and, if possible, remove the canopy in windy weather, since an open parasol is the most likely thing in the garden to be damaged or to damage something else. Our modern garden parasols UK sale<\/a> lists recommended base weights, which is the detail most often overlooked.<\/p>\nAnchor to something fixed<\/h3>\n
Position matters more than people expect<\/h3>\n
Better still, store rather than cover<\/h3>\n
Looking after the cover itself<\/h3>\n
A quick checklist<\/h3>\n