Upright, it’s not a particularly attractive tree, and it’s also a host for a disease which damages apple orchard fruit production. So quite often, Davis is able to negotiate rather favorable terms for its removal. In most cases, only trees selected for the custom furniture work on order are harvested. Others are allowed to continue growing. Specimens can easily live for a couple of hundred years, but a trunk diameter of that size is rarely used for garden furniture.
The fine-grained pinkish-brown wood is fragrant, however, and it’s also light, durable and especially resistant to rot, hence its popularity for outdoor furniture and fencing. Its scented oil also repels moths, which is why cedar has traditionally been used indoors for closets and blanket chests. Once cut, cedar gradually ages to a grayish color when exposed to the elements, but otherwise remains little-changed.
“The joke is that when people come to our shop they always say, wow, this must be so nice to work with all this cedar, it smells so good, but I can’t even smell cedar anymore,” says Cook. Joe said he lost his ability to discern the scent after less than a week of working with it.
The manufacture of Romancing The Woods garden furniture produces quite a bit of cedar shavings and chips. In the past, the company has donated this by-product to area farm animal sanctuaries, but while it’s great for some animals, it’s harmful to others. The sanctuaries have stopped hauling it away.
When I visited the shop, there was a huge pile of fragrant cedar bits in a heap off to the side, against a wall.
“Tell anyone you want they’re here and free for the taking. We don’t have time to package and sell the shavings to a retail (pet) store, but they’re ideal for small rodents like gerbils,” said Davis.
For more information on Romancing The Woods and the products it custom manufactures, visit www.romancingthewoods.com, or stop by the shop and pick up a brochure – and possibly a free supply of cedar bedding or mulch for your hamster or shrubbery.
Join the family! 
