Cantilever Parasols

Why choose a cantilever

The whole point is the clear space underneath. A centre-pole parasol has to pass through the middle of whatever it is shading, which is fine over a dining table with a hole in it and awkward over anything else. A cantilever puts the support to one side, so you can shade a corner sofa, a pair of loungers or a hot tub without arranging the furniture around a post. Most rotate on the base and many tilt as well, so one parasol covers different parts of a terrace through the day.

Ballast is the whole job

Because the canopy is held out to one side, every bit of wind loading tries to tip the parasol rather than push it. That is why a cantilever needs far more ballast than a centre-pole parasol of the same canopy size, and why most are sold without a base so you can match it properly. Cross bases take slabs or weights and spread the load; filled bases are simpler. Whichever you use, follow the weight the parasol asks for rather than the one that looks sufficient.

Sizes and coverage

A 3m square or round canopy shades a four to six seat lounge group comfortably. Larger cantilevers cover a dining set without a mast in the way, and rectangular canopies suit a run of loungers along a poolside or a narrow terrace. Check the clearance under the arm as well as the canopy span, as the arm crosses above head height and a low one is easy to walk into.

Frames, arms and mechanisms

Cantilever frames work harder than centre-pole ones, so the arm and its joint matter. Powder-coated aluminium keeps the weight down where a long arm makes weight a problem, and a cranked or geared mechanism does the lifting. Look at how the canopy closes: on a cantilever it usually folds down along the arm, and a canopy that closes tightly is one that fits a cover and sheds water rather than holding it.

Wind, and knowing when to close it

A cantilever is the parasol most affected by wind, for the same reason it is the most useful in still weather. Close it whenever you are not sitting under it, and in anything more than a light breeze. If the garden is exposed, a centre-pole parasol through a table or a fixed shade sail will give you less trouble across a season.

What a cantilever suits, and what it does not

They come into their own over anything you cannot put a post through. A corner sofa, a pair of loungers, a hot tub, a daybed, or a seating group arranged round a fire pit where the middle is already occupied. They also work where the shade needs to move: rotate the canopy through the afternoon and one parasol covers the table at lunch and the seating at six. Where they are the wrong answer is a windy garden, a very small terrace where the base footprint eats the floor, and over a dining table that already has a parasol hole, since you would be paying considerably more for ballast you do not need.

Care and covers

Rinse the canopy, let it dry fully open, and fold it along the arm as the maker intends rather than forcing it. A fitted cover is more useful on a cantilever than on any other parasol, because the folded canopy sits high and stays exposed. Check the arm joint and the crank at the end of each season.

The arm joint is the part that takes the load, so it is the part worth looking at twice a year. Any play in it will get worse, and a canopy that no longer sits level is usually telling you about the joint rather than the fabric. Keep the rotating collar at the base clean, since grit is what makes a smooth rotation stiff. Over winter, either bring the parasol in or leave it covered and closed, and take the weights off a cross base if it needs moving. A cantilever left up and open through a winter gale is the single most likely thing in a garden to break, and it will usually take the arm rather than the fabric with it, which is the expensive half. If the garden is exposed and the parasol lives out, the habit worth building is closing it every evening rather than only when wind is forecast.