How cool are these firepits?

A garden fire pit is a wonderful thing in autumn and winter, also great fun for keeping you snug outside in spring and on cool summer nights. It’s an all-year all-rounder for outdoor entertainment. If, like almost every human being on our lovely blue planet, you love the look and feel of a real fire, it’s a feeling that goes back in time a very long way indeed.

Humans have been harnessing fire for hundreds of thousands of years. Fire probably contributed to the sophisticated creatures we have become. After all, while you can’t think straight when you’re cold and scared, when you’re warm and safe there’s time and space for your big brain to dream up great ideas. Life is no longer merely about survival once you’re warm. It’s a lot more creative. Living suddenly means so much more than simply staying alive.

So, we have a lot to thank fire for, and that’s probably a strong evolutionary reason why we’re still so fascinated by flames. Unless you’re scared of it, fire will probably attract you like a moth to a flame. So is it time to light up your garden and your alfresco lifestyle with a fire pit? Yes, it is!

What is a fire pit?

As the name suggests, a fire pit used to be a very simple thing indeed. Just a hole dug into the ground to keep the fire safe and contained, often with some kind of simple way to keep it alight, allowing a breeze to fan the flames. These days they tend to be portable, either burning gas or wood.

Any wood will do as long as it’s dry enough to burn, but in exactly the same way as an indoor log burner, the wood burns hotter and more efficiently when the wood is properly dried. That’s why kiln-dried wood is such a popular buy for indoor wood burning stoves. If you’ve got wood but you’re not sure how dry it is, a simple moisture meter reveals all.

Waste wood is a great choice, including old pallets – a real challenge to dismantle but worth it for the burn. The chipboard chunks burn particularly well, and burn for a good, long time.

About modern fire pits

These days, the term fire pit refers to almost any way of safely enclosing fire outdoors. A fire pit can be made of ceramic or metal. It’s a wonderful idea for a romantic night outdoors and just as good for big, cheerful family parties and celebrations. The best fire pits are all about eating well as well as keeping warm, and they make splendid BBQs.

How about the law? Are we allowed, in the UK, to light fires in our gardens willy-nilly? It’s good to know the answer is ‘yes’. We have lenient outdoor fire laws. You should be allowed to light bonfires, chimineas, fire pits and BBQs in your garden without any legal difficulties. The only thing to bear in mind is courtesy. It makes sense to site the fire pit away from walls, fences, and people’s garden boundaries, just to be polite. When you burn wood that’s been dried properly there’s less smoke, often none at all, and that’s good for other people’s washing lines. One thing is very clear – you can’t light a smoky fire and let the smoke drift over a road, where it stops drivers, other road users, pets and pedestrians from seeing clearly.

Can you build your on DIY fire pit?

You can make your own low cost fire pit, and Readers Digest has come up with a few cool tips. Here they are:

Build your own brick fire pit – Make it either sunken or raised above the ground. If you want it to be sunken, dig a suitable hole and line the edges with fireproof bricks. There’s no need for cement, just stack the bricks without sticking them together. It really is that simple, and you can move it easily whenever you like, to set it up somewhere else. Here’s how to build your own brick fire pit for less than £25.

A washing machine drum fire pit is a thing of beauty, all silvery and shiny and dramatic. The holes in it mean there’s great ventilation, which helps the fire burn hot and bright. Stand it somewhere flat and safe like you would a drum, with the open ends top and bottom, and there you are – instant fire pit! See how to do it in simple steps here. The silvery finish will disappear to leave you with a gorgeous natural-looking old metal patina.

A tractor wheel rim fire pit? Yes, it’s a thing! While they’re not as good-looking as a washing machine drum or brick fire pit they’re very rugged. The sheer size of a tractor wheel rim – the metal circle inside the rubber part, not the rubber tyre itself – means it’s a massive thing, great for warming a large area with lots of people. Click here to find out how to do it yourself.

Three fab fire pits for your garden

When you can’t be bothered to DIY and you want something smart and new, buy a contemporary garden firepit. We have loads to choose from. Here are three of the best, each a different style.

The round stone effect fire pit

Our gorgeous round stone effect fire pit is a beautiful item with its attractive pale grey and darker grey swirly patterns. It’s made from magnesium oxide or MGO, a cool type of mineral cement that resists heat perfectly. It comes with its own mesh guard, charcoal grill, poker and cooking grill so makes short work of tasty alfresco cuisine as well as keeping you cosy when you stand or sit around it.

The medium Kadai real fire pit

Complete with three attractive curly legs for stability, the medium Kadai fire pit is tailor made for cooking outdoors, made in India in a traditional way. It comes with simple good looks. And it comes with a great quality stainless steel BBQ grill. You can also use it as a great garden fire that easily burns every kind of fuel. Simple, a dream to use, and great to look at.

The Cylo fire pit

The beautiful, uber-modern CYLO Cylinder MGO fire pit is made up of a strong steel firebowl, a beautiful cylinder-shaped magnesium oxide stand, and a large log store, giving you everything you need for fine outdoor entertainment. It comes with a charcoal grill and cooking grill, and the handles at the sides mean it’s easy and safe to move around. The style is the ultimate in contemporary, a lovely calm pale grey colour that looks just like stone.