HappyGardens.com compensated FOF to create this sponsored post. Regardless, we only recommend products or services that we believe will be helpful for our readers. All insights and opinions are our own– Geri Brin
Artful decoration can make or break a garden. We’re not talking about Greek statues, painted toadstools and garden gnomes. The big trend today is the use of natural materials for ornamentation – as well as for landscaping – that chime with nature. Think flamed metal, weathered copper, pebbles and water-worn stone, fashioned into organic shapes that shamelessly flatter every kind of flower and foliage. The world-famous Chelsea Flower Show, next month in London, will heavily feature rusted steel for decorative elements as well as laser-cut screens. Closer to home, online garden decor store Happy Gardens, with covetable, well-priced merchandise in down-to-earth materials, gets our vote!
PUT YOUR STAKES IN THE GROUND
A stash of garden stakes is indispensable. Plant a row of brightly-colored flower stakes to transform a window box at lean times of the year; use taller ones to mark the spots where you planted the lily bulbs; push a butterfly stake or three to hover around the buddleia, or dragonflies scooting permanently above the lavender. You can never have too many stakes, especially when flowers are thin on the ground.
MAGICAL MOBILES
A chiming mobile, beset with dangling celestial stars, moon and sun, or perhaps a multitude of tinkling bells, will add a dollop of charm to yard or garden. Choose metal – weathered copper or steel – over clunkier wood for the prettiest, calming sounds that distract from jarring traffic noise beyond the garden. Use the apex of an arch, arbour or pergola, the bough of bush or tree or any place you can find to hang one or more of these assets, for special effects.
LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN
Downspouts aren’t objects of beauty, but rain chains are, and they serve the same purpose. Copy the Oriental practice of hanging a rain chain onto the side of your shed, house or patio wall: any place where you can watch – and hear – the water trickling rhythmically from one flower cup – or maybe a small-scale watering can – to the next, right down to the bottom. Even when the sun’s shining, the eco-friendly rain chain adds a decorative dimension.
BUILDING THE GREAT WALL
Why have a bare garden wall when you can make it Pinterest-pretty? You could hang up a series of bird boxes, each painted a different color; display favorite pottery plates, or even show off a set of vintage garden tools, Shaker-style. Half a dozen thrift store framed mirrors look super-stylish and will do a great job in reflecting light. Wall decor is only limited by your imagination, but you could find inspiration in hand-crafted metal artworks especially created for your outside space.
TAKING A SPIN IN THE GARDEN
Spinners whipped by the wind make cheerful, affordable kinetic sculptures that bring a smile to everybody’s face, especially when they depict butterflies a-whirling, or coppered pinwheels merrily spinning in the breeze. These miniature windmills are as practical as they are cute, too, serving as crop protectors, keeping birds from pecking at treasured plants.
FROM HERON TO ETERNITY
Divert the eye from less-than-lovely parts of the garden with a strategically-placed statue or ornament, suitably to scale. Give a long garden path a great full stop at the end with an outsize, curvaceous terracotta urn that needs no plant to embellish; investment dressing at its finest. A potted olive tree, centered in a yard, acts as living sculpture, while a pair of steel herons will bring grace to the garden and lend authenticity to a water feature.
NO STONE UNTURNED
Bring attention to a favorite planting or special corner of the garden with what resembles foraged finds gathered at seashore, river bed or mountainside. This might be a piece of driftwood gathered at high tide, a pyramid of slate shards or a trio of standing stones. Towers or cairns of smooth, stacked river stones that appear to defy gravity are especially effective and add a timeless quality, but best leave it to the professionals and buy ready-made rock art that has steel at its core to keep the stones stable.
to see the wonderful collection of garden décor from Happy Gardens
Gardening columnist Pattie Barron recently moved to southwest France where her front garden will be stuffed with pots of pink and scarlet geraniums this summer