Garden Decor

If you’d like to add variety to your garden this year, you can introduce a unique garden decor accent in it to add interest amongst your plants and flowers.  You will be tickled to see your latest garden decoration personalize your garden during the growing season.  You can also add a planter box or two and extend your garden onto the patio.

   Many gardeners will utilize a planter box if they do not have enough land for growing their flowers.  Anyone can grow a garden! It takes some time to figure out which part of your yard yields the appropriate amount of sunlight to make sure that all of your plants and flowers grow throughout the season.  You also may want to add some garden stepping stones to make it look more inviting.  These garden stones can be used to create a pathway, or spread throughout your garden, if that would be your preference.

   I have found that garden accents really individualize my little garden.

     Got a gazebo out in your back yard? Then you have the makings for spectacular Outdoor Garden Decor!
 
     Just build your garden around your gazebo!

     For optimum accentuization, shrubs and plants should never be more than 1/3 the height of the gazebo.

     Adding lattice or trellises on your gazebo provides a place for vine plants or flowers to grow and climb, bring your the gazebo to life!  Now you have a wonderful aromatic garden in which you can sit and delight in the fragrance!

     Now that we’re looking forward to cooler weather, it’s a good time to start a little indoor gardening.  You can start planning what you want in terms of flowers or decorative plants in your springtime garden or on your patio.

     The use of a planter box for your favorite garden flower is a great technique to spice up the appearance of your sun room or a window sill.  Then when the weather is right, it can be moved outside and become your own specially crafted unique garden decor.

     Lawn and garden decor can express a unique nostalgic look in its utility. Plant half whiskey barrels tightly with strawberry plants. It will give a quaint novel appearance to your garden while making easier pickins! The strawberries will be higher than ground level!

     Any kind of barrel will do for that matter. You might come across an old wooden crate, such as an orange crate. Consider using it for your tomato plot. Then you can design a trellis by nailing or screwing sticks and branches together.

Unique garden decor!

And great eats!

–Whatever materials you choose for your garden paths: grass, garden stepping stones, wood chips, gravel, pavers, brick; your garden can become something of a “dreamland” for wandering and meditating.

–You may prefer narrow paths that let you get up close and personal with your plants, especially if you have fragrant flowers and you like to put your nose in and smell them.

–Maybe you’d rather employ walkways wide enough to stroll along without worrying about stepping on sprawled stems or being bothered by bees. This kind may allow space for unique garden decor and garden statuary, and a bench for quiet meditative times - perhaps to read a book.

Keep in mind, gardening is an excellent hobby. Enjoy the beauty of a perfectly designed masterpiece. Or delight yourself in a thrown together, utterly chaotic mass of nature. Don’t let the unorganized garden prevent you from enjoying your life…

An idea for garden markers is to make garden yard stakes by painting  flowers, fruits or vegetables with exaggerated faces onto clean paint stirrers. Acrylic paints can be used with a brush, or try paint markers, both of which can be found at a craft store.  A good wood clear coat or a shellac will keep your garden markers brilliant much longer than a cheap spray clear coat.

Other ideas for garden markers, garden signs, and garden yard stakes will be forthcoming. We’ll explore organizing your outdoor sancturaries using garden stones, metal and copper garden markers, and making garden stakes and garden signs of wood, clay, and other materials.
 
Happy gardening!

Do you ever find yourself scratching your head wondering what will be coming up in this little bed? Which seeds you planted in that little spot?

 I’ve tried drawing a map of my garden to remind me where each perennial is located to help plan where to plant more bulbs and annuals.

Perhaps a better idea (and easier to keep up with!) is using garden markers and garden stakes or garden signs.

 One way to make garden markers is to paint rocks that can be placed to indicate what’s planted where. Collect some rocks that you had to dig out while planting your garden. With Delta Ceramcoat (or equivalent)  paint a  picture of the flower or vegetable you just planted. Then paint a white rectangle underneath the picture. Let dry & paint the name on the white square.

Good idea to seal the painted rocks with lacquer (available from most places that sell spray paint) to keep them weather resistant.

Avoid breathing the fumes!

Bee balm, Monarda didyma (Bergamot, Scarlet Beebalm, Scarlet Monarda, Oswego Tea, or Crimson Beebalm) is an aromatic herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to eastern North America from Maine west to Ohio and south to northern Georgia.  With whorled heads of scarlet or pink flowers which ooze with tangy nectar,  it provides a natural territory for the hummingbird.  It grows in dense clusters along stream banks, thickets and ditches, flowering from July to late August. So be sure to keep your hummingbird feeder fresh filled during early summer.

So you can watch hummingbirds up close and right on your front porch, hang a basket of fuchsia, for a natural hummingbird feeder, in a shady spot. Avoid the double, ruffled kinds, and choose single-flowered varieties - probing for nectar is much easier for the hummingbird with this kind. (There are about 100–110 species of Fuchsia to choose from!)
 Fuchsia cultivars are wonderful porch ornaments where the hummingbirds keep them pollinated and healthy. When planted on the ground, it’s a favorite rabbit food. So if you like rabbits (and they are cute!) you may want to plant some on the ground also to share.

Bewick’s Wren is resident in British Columbia and the western and southern U.S. (found throughout most of California except in the deserts of the south east and the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.)
The easternmost of these birds spend winters in the Gulf coast states.
Eastern populations dropped drastically starting early in the 20th century, and now it is nearly restricted to the West.

They inhabit thickets, brush piles, hedgerows, open woodlands, and scrubby areas, often near streams. Bewick’s Wren is also at home near man made buildings and gardens.
To attract the Bewick’s wren to your garden plant chaparral plants. This is its main habitat. Many species of chapparal are very drought tolerant and excellent for California gardens. A good choice for your garden is the Manzanita species.
 

The Bewick’s Wren nests in pre-existing cavaties. Actually , they prefer naturally occurring cavities.
They will nest in old woodpecker cavities, but their nesting sites are not necessarily restricted to trees. They prefer to nest near or on the ground, and will also nest in rock crevices or in man made birdhouses.

When a bamboo flowers, as most of us know, it is in danger of dying. Flowering bamboos do not always die; although many do — especially in the case of gregarious flowering. Even an individual plant that suspends growth of new culms and foliage for the exclusive production of flowers may die.

Read the rest of this entry »