Glamorous Gardens

And so it is in the yard and garden. Once the plants are in the ground, the fun begins. Using garden accessories is the key to creating a unique and exquisite landscape.

1  Containers
The throw pillows of exterior design—annuals and perennials grown in containers add splashes of color and texture on decks, porches, patios, and sidewalks. Beautiful containers immediately cause an old deck, worn porch, or plain sidewalk to sparkle.

But don’t stop there. Gaily place containers throughout the landscape. Set a large container of annuals on a pedestal rising prominently from the center of the perennial garden for color and height. A grouping of three containers filled with shade-loving impatiens or coleus can brighten the ground beneath a shady oak. Use a single container to mark the start of a woodland pathway.

Above all, get funky, if that’s your style. Old wash basins, cracked bird baths, colanders, boots, and straw hats are just a few of the items that can be plant containers.  

2  Benches
Benches and other types of seating provide function and visual impact. A good, solid cedar bench fits in with any style landscape, but check out benches made of stone, iron, or cast aluminum. As with furniture inside the home, benches should be placed where they can be easily accessed and aren’t in the way of normal traffic flow. They are most inviting when placed against a backdrop such as a large tree trunk, wall of shrubs, or section of fence. Key to bench placement is giving the user a sense of protection from behind and always a unique view of the landscape.

Benches don’t take up much space and no gazebo is required; all you need is a small bit of stone, brick, or concrete paver flooring tucked into a cozy spot in the landscape. 

3  Sculpture & Art
We buy paintings, sculpture, and other artful objects for our interiors, so think the same way about your garden. Support a local artist by purchasing a garden sculpture that is one of a kind. Garden centers sell metal, stone, concrete, and terra cotta sculptures, gazing globes, obelisks, trellises, and arbors, and though mass-produced, the minute you place the item in your landscape, there is no other like it.

Let’s place birdbaths in this category as well. If you commit to a birdbath, however, keep it scrubbed and the water clean from spring to fall. Emptying the birdbath and scrubbing algae with a wire or plastic scour is a regular part of maintenance. But it’s worth it—you’ll greatly increase the number of birds who visit your yard for a drink, a bath, and a chirp.   

4  Stone
Stone outcroppings bring a whole new dimension to the landscape. Stone has size, form, color, and texture and contrasts with the plants around it to great effect. Boulders need to be buried so that about one-third of the stone is below ground. Boulders in your landscape should appear randomly like boulders cropping out in wilderness areas. Give a nod, however, to the fact that placing them as singles or triples always seems to look best. One large boulder, a second medium-sized boulder near it, then a third, smaller boulder trailing off from the first two does the trick. Repeating single and triple placement (with the odd double boulder set here and there) throughout a section of landscape creates a powerful natural scene.
5  Found Objects
Driftwood collected from the banks of a lake or river is a terrific garden accessory. Placed under trees, alongside pathways, or wherever you please, it becomes a unique, natural sculpture. Small driftwood pieces also belong on the deck and patio, used in table arrangements or clustered on the ground with other objects to create a sculptural collection. One of the best of these I’ve seen involved a lovely piece of driftwood, a small clay bowl of coleus, a gourd, a sparkly flat rock, and an old blue bowling ball, artfully arranged together.

Antiques and garage sale finds can make great garden accents, ranging from elegant to quirky. Paging through garden magazines, it won’t take long before you’ll see a picture of the classic garden “bed” made from an old metal headboard and baseboard stuck into the ground with flowers growing between them. It may be old hat today, but it’s the right way to think. Never dismiss an item you spy at the dump, antiques shop, or garage sale before asking yourself, “How would that look hanging from my fence?”

6  Fountains
The quest for water in the garden has led to a great expansion of the sizes and styles of self-contained fountains available. The reason to include a fountain in your garden is to provide sound and sight, in that order, so remember to buy something that makes a nice splash. Formal tiered fountains, statuary fountains, and other traditional styles have been joined by slate and marble sheet fountains, drilled boulder fountains, and copper sculpture fountains. You’re buying art, so pick a fountain you like, and place it where the soothing sound it creates can be heard from your favorite outdoor seating area (or through the open bedroom window).

And as with interior design, every now and then it’s good to rearrange the furniture. Try your bench in a new spot with a different view. Or shift the birdbath to the front yard. You can’t move your trees, so have some fun with your garden accessories.

Reach Don Engebretson through his website renegadegardener.com.