Are You Looking For Garden Ornaments, Don't Confine Yourself To Statues

Author: Thomas Reynolds

The common thing what most of the people think about a garden is that it is a row of ornamental plants in front. It also has edible ones in the backyard of the house. In certain cases it also has some good sitting arrangements. Few of them are interested to have a some garden ornaments like fountain or a bird feed, do you think that's all about a garden . No, it does not end with that. 

In its real aspect, a garden is just a planned space where we plan to grow different varieties of plants only for the enjoyment of it. The main purpose of holding a kitchen garden is also for that only. It can never fully meet our need, but we are always happy to have fresh vegetables or herbs straight from our own garden which induces us to grow them. On the other hand, when you think about it, gardening is not just a place which allows us to enjoy something more than the roses or broccolis what we have planted, more than that it enables us to enjoy the nature as a whole and that too more closely than we otherwise can 

Garden ornaments have been an integral part of the garden designs since the days when the Romans ruled over the world. A great many examples of such garden ornaments have been found lying buried under the ashes of Pompeii or at other places. However, styles have all changed because with time people have changed and so have their preferences and likings. For example, very few residential gardens today have those elaborate fountains that used to adorn the Roman gardens. Instead, we mostly have wall fountains or at the most small waterfalls at one corner only. 
The familiar garden ornament id the bird feeders. We have different types of it. The bird tray is not preferred like the tubes because it does not allow much of a waste. Tubes come with various features but it depends upon the type of food offered, and that is in turn depends upon the variety of birds you are trying to attract. Such as, in case if you want to attract humming birds, get a liquid dispenser that dispenses liquid nourishment like a sugar solution, and also see to it either the dispenser or the liquid must contain something red to attract the bird 

Other than that, you can get birdbath, birdhouses or even bat houses. Such items not only attract wildlife to your garden, but they are also perfect as garden ornaments. Therefore, while hunting for garden ornaments, you need not confine yourself to statues and columns only. Any manmade object that increases the aesthetic value of the place can be included in the list provided they increase the aesthetic value of the place. In fact, there are so many varieties of them that it is well neigh impossible to make a complete list. Yet we can mention a few categories of them only:

Bird baths, feeders and houses
Fountains, waterfalls and cascades
Statues, columns and urns
Gazing balls or yard globes
Small objects like weathervanes, wind chimes etc

Then again, if you have the space, you can install a small version of a pagoda or a sundial. Moon bridges over small water bodies too are attractive addition to your garden. Today items like plastic flamingoes or gnomes have become quite popular, especially over here in the United States. In addition, instead of gas or electric heaters, you can have items such as chimaeras, portable fire pits or fire bowls too. Most of them are not only beautifully designed, but also quite useful in keeping the chill away. 

The next is the garden furniture which is the most basic need of any garden and so you need to carefully choose them as these simply functional objects will be a good garden ornaments. Wooden patio furniture has quite an ethnic value. The other products which add to the ambience of the place if carefully selected are the tables, chairs and benches made from stone, wrought iron or even aluminum. The people who are with creative bend of mind will, more often try to use all old discarded material in order to create outdoor furniture or other sculptures

Remember Bathtub Madonna in this association. It is also known as Lawn Shrine, Mary on Half Shell, bathtub Mary, bathtub shrine etc. These have now become commercially made today, but in the earlier days they were constructed by upending a discarded bathtub and burying one end of it. Shrine which is created of that sort will generally houses Virgin Mary. If you wish, you can also put an image of Jesus or any other Saints in it. Plant some good plants surrounding the shrine and you can thus create the focal point of the garden. Quite the opposite, you can also construct in a corner by a gently flowing waterfall, which makes it a best place for meditation. It is up to you to decide 

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/are-you-looking-for-garden-ornaments-dont-confine-yourself-to-statues-3356530.html

About the Author

Article by Thomas Reynolds of Garden-Ornaments.net, a website with the largest selections of garden ornament information.

Garden Ornaments is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

How To Make Your Own Moss Landscape Rock and Garden Statues

Author: Steve Boulden

Moss can make some garden elements and even entire shady gardens look and feel aged and established. The trouble with garden moss though, is that sometimes it may not even grow at all on its own. And if it does, it could take a very long time to become established.

Here's a way you can accelerate and establish a beautiful green moss cover over your garden rocks and concrete features. This method doesn't work well on resin statues and artificial landscape rocks.

First stir a fist size clump of porcelain clay into 3 cups of water to form a thin paste. You can usually get porcelain clay from local hobby shops.

Then combine the clay mixture with one cup of undiluted fish emulsion and one cup of fresh, shredded moss. Fish emulsion is a plant fertilizer made from whole fish. It's usually available at nurseries and garden centers.

Mix everything together and paint it on your rocks and concrete objects with a paint brush. Keep things in the garden slightly moist by misting and taking care not to wash the mixture off.

Remember that moss grows naturally in patches, likes the North side of objects, and takes readily to cracks and crevices.

Use this formula in shady gardens and in moist locations and you can most probably have moss on your garden statues and landscape rocks in a few weeks.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/how-to-make-your-own-moss-landscape-rock-and-garden-statues-7494.html

About the Author

Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the owner and chief designer for S&S Designed Landscaping in Carlsbad, NM. He is also the creator of The Landscape Design Site which offers free professional landscaping advice, tips, plans, and ideas to do it yourselfers and homeowners.

For more free landscaping and garden ideas, visit his site at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/

Garden Statues is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

Landscape Lighting Design – How to Get the Most from Your Garden Lighting

Author: Jesse Whitehead

There are many people who spend a considerable amount of time during the day making sure that their landscaping looks just right. In reality, however, there is no need for you to stop the beauty of the outdoors, just because the sun is going down. With a little bit of understanding about how landscape lighting design works, you would be surprised with the beauty that you can bring to your outdoor living environment at night.

This article presents some tips that that will help you get the most out of your garden lighting.

First, when you set out to design your landscape lighting, don't think in only two dimensions.   For example, you can change the way your landscaping looks by shining light down on it (down lighting) as well as by shining light  up (up lighting).   

You also need to not only think about the light that is thrown by your fixtures, but the shadow and silhouette effects that it creates as well.  Designing your lights to be placed in various strategic places can make a big difference in the effects you achieve in your yard and garden areas.

One popular and very practical feature to include in any landscape lighting design should be path and walkway lights.  Among the most cost effective and environmentally friendly option available for path lighting are low voltage solar and LED lights.  

If you plan on hardwiring these lights, plan carefully in advance and lay out everything before you run the wiring.  You will save time and frustration by making sure you have all the parts you need before your start.

Should you go with solar landscape lighting, you can easily put them in a place you like and move them at will as needed.  Whether you go with wired or solar lights is a personal choice, but both will provide adequate illumination to light your walkways.

Another lighting fixture that will yield big results is a spotlight.  Spotlights provide an excellent light source that can enhance the overall look of the outdoor area.   You can use a spotlight to throw the light onto the house for a wash effect, or shine it up through the trees, shrubs and other standout features in your garden.  You may even consider using different color filters to further enhance your landscaping.   Colors such as blue, yellow and red can go far in bringing out the natural color of plant foliage, hidden characteristics of wood in tree trunks, branches and limbs, and other things you want to highlight.  

Low voltage and solar lighting can be easily installed by the average homeowner in most cases.  You can run the low volt electrical wires yourself and save money.   Just make sure you position everything properly and test it   before you complete the final installation.  Follow your design plan and take your time during the installation, and you will be surprised with what you are able to accomplish.  

On the other hand, if you should you choose a traditional 120 volt lighting system over a low voltage design, you might feel more comfortable hiring a professional landscaper or electrician to run the wiring.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/landscape-lighting-design-how-to-get-the-most-from-your-garden-lighting-3015243.html

About the Author

For more information about landscape lighting design the author recommends you visit Malibu Solar Lights.

Garden Lighting is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

Garden Plaques: Make your Garden the Stuff of Angelic Dreams

Author: John Thompson

Garden plaques are tablets, usually made out of wood and either suspended, appended to a vertical surface like a wall, or posted like a sign out of the floor. Garden plaques can either be brief or very long, and beautiful, informative, or both.

Based on the situation, garden plaques have a range of functions: identification, commemoration, or decorative. An example of an ID plaque would be a family marker, such as The Smiths, to accompany an address or erected out front of home.

The short blurbs one finds at museums are also ID plaques, although these are not in reality garden plaques. Commemorative plaques, though, are more many. A headstone and historical marker are examples of this (garden plaques need not only be made of wood.

Headstones are found in cemeteries, which are mainly treated like gardens). Decorative plaques, as those seen in a garden, would be markers with flowers painted on them to contribute flare to the scene.

Garden plaques can be made in a range of shapes and sizes, depending on the length of the message and the degree of ornamentation included on them. The aforementioned headstone would have the deceases name, dates, possible quote, and even the addition of angelic iconography.

These stones would naturally be bigger than a headstone inserted in the ground and bearing only a name and dates. Some headstones are round while others are rectangular, square, or cross-shaped. Family markers are the same way.

Garden plaques can even be in the form of 3-dimensional images, such as animals, mythical or cultural designs, cosmological bodies (moon, sun, stars, etc.), or everyday items, like hearts, ribbons, books, even cars. When it comes to the possible style of garden plaques, the imagination is the limit!

Garden plaques come in an array of prices. Plaquemaker.com offers plaques starting at .00 for one. The more plaques bought, the cheaper each plaque is. .00 is the cheapest for one in a package having a 101-to-250 quantity.

A variety of garden plaques offered here, with inscriptions made in at least ten different possible colors, have designs that are based on the customers personal preference.

For those interested, these are fun to have and to look at. They spice up the garden, the residence, or wherever they are placed. Garden plaques are memorable and always in style!

Garden Plaques have an incredible ability to "take you there", whether it's a fairy tale, or a sense of serenity, these items certainly have a lifeforce all unto themselves!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/garden-plaques-make-your-garden-the-stuff-of-angelic-dreams-56428.html

About the Author

Make haste onto my web site for more detailed and worthy news on wholesale garden decor exclusive info this moment!

Garden Plaques is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

Unique Birdhouses and Garden Décor Birdhouses – After You Buy Them, This Will Help You Place Them Where They Will Do The Most For Your Birds

Author: Hank Turney

As decorative as a wood birdhouse is it still needs a level of functionality, one aspect you need to decide on is color. If your garden décor birdhouses are strictly decorative birdhouses then you may want to choose a color that will stand out, or compliment your lawnornaments. On the other hand if you want to provide shelter and a safe haven for nesting birds in your area, bright colors are out. You will be doing a great disservice to your tenants because the brighter the wood birdhouse is the more attention it will draw for potential predators. The Beach Bungalow Birdhouse is a blend of earthly colors and as decorative birdhouses go it fits the bill (no pun intended). Once you have chosen your decorative bird houses based on your needs and what type of species you're hoping to attract the next step is placement.

Every species of bird nests in varying types of locations. If you know what kinds of birds you want to attract you should place your decorative birdhouses in areas where those types of birds live. Unique birdhouses placed on a fence post or tree in a wooded area will attract nuthatches and woodpeckers. Where as decorative birdhouses hung in an open field or large backyard with little vegetation would be comfortable for bluebirds, swallows, and certain types of wrens.

Look your chosen location over paying close attention to the surrounding area. Avoid spots that don't provide protective cover, even decorative birdhouses on a post in an open field should have trees within flying distance. And, an area too thickly surrounded by vegetation won't give the birds a clear flight path to and from the wood birdhouses.

Different species of birds require very precise heights in order to feel safe enough to nest, so do some research on the exact height distance requirements before hanging your unique birdhouses. If possible, place your decorative birdhouses near birdfeeders or birdbaths so that the birds will have easy access to food and water, helping them feel more at home in your garden décor birdhouses will make them more likely to stay.

Now, after you have hung all your unique birdhouses or decorative birdhouses and you don't see the activity you were expecting, try adding nesting materials close by. Not all birds will use decorative birdhouses but they all search out and gather some form of nesting material. Some of your common natural nest materials include; twigs, bark, leaves, feathers and the like. Man made nesting materials you can find around your home might be: cotton, yarn, strings and my favorite's dryer lint and pet hair. Let's face it, a purpose for dryer lint and pet hair, I love it!  A mesh produce bag works well to secure and hang the bundle of material. Try these ideas and you will have a greater chance of seeing occupied and functional decorative birdhouses.

With the vast destruction of natural habitat, it's getting tougher for wild birds to find proper nest sites. Cavity nesting birds are facing stiff competition for nest boxes, so hanging decorative birdhouses that are functional and safe will help them thrive and bring them back to your garden décor birdhouses year after year.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bird-watching-articles/unique-birdhouses-and-garden-dcor-birdhouses-after-you-buy-them-this-will-help-you-place-them-where-they-will-do-the-most-for-your-birds-1189802.html

About the Author

My name is Hank Turney, I am President & CEO of Seventeen O One Enterprises, LLC. Parent company of Digital Pays, LLC and Hanks Adsense Treasure, LLC. That is my job, gardening is my hobby, having said that I hope my articles provide you with information you find useful and enjoyable to read.  Gardening and landscaping is, in my opinion, the most relaxing and rewarding hobby anyone could have. With the right information and tips it can be even more gratifying; sometimes trial and error leads to frustration and disappointment. That is why our two web based companies offer a variety of topics on just about anything you need information on, including my favorite Yard and Gardening. Digital Pays is an E-book retail store that is constantly updated to bring you the latest in digital information, while Hanks Adsense Treasure has over 1500 pages of tips and ideas on just about everything, with links to other sites that provide you with the hands on information to help you apply the tips and ideas of you choosing. You can choose, if you wish, to visit our webs sites for all the information you need. So click on the links below and become informed. http://www.DigitalPays.com and http://www.HanksAdsenseTreasure.com

Garden Decor is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

Front Porch Ideas - Paint Your Container Garden Pots For a Great Look!

Author: Mary

Do you have a container garden? Container gardens are friendly for porches, patios and decks where you don't have a lot of mainstream gardening space. A container garden allows you to have herbs, vegetables and flowers in different sized pots right on your porch. But do your pots look like a hodge podge collection of many sizes and colors that don't quite jive together? Then how about painting a bunch of inexpensive pots in a color(s) that complements your porch or patio.

Our daughter-in-law gave us this great idea. She wanted all of her flower pots to be black to go with her black wrought iron furniture, but the cost was prohibitive especially in the larger-sized pot sizes. She would have had to purchase more expensive ceramic pots to get them in black. So she purchased inexpensive plastic pots in various colors and sizes, took them home and spray painted them all black. She used a type of spray paint that's specifically made for plastic.   The result? A great looking container garden with a unified look.

The pots look very smart with her black wrought iron furniture and black fire pit. So instead of noticing the pots, your eyes are drawn to the beautiful flowers she planted: zinnias, wave petunias, marigolds, dahlias and trailing vincas. Would work equally well with container vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchinis.   You could paint your pots any color you like.

Another idea would be to paint your pots in complementary colors, like forest green, emerald green and celery green. And yet another idea is to paint a pretty stencil on your pots after you spray paint them in your chosen color.  A little imagination and work can go a long way. When you tire of black pots, you could re-paint the pots a pretty golden color for the fall.

If you grow your flowers and vegetables in containers, consider spray painting your plastic pots to pull together the look you desire for your container garden. It's easy, inexpensive and you can change the color whenever you want. It's just another plus to container gardening. Why not try it this season?

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/front-porch-ideas-paint-your-container-garden-pots-for-a-great-look-2604125.html

About the Author

Mary Morris is a self-proclaimed porch lover and grandma 7 sweet grand kids. Mary is one of the co-founders of http://www.front-porch-ideas-and-more.com/, a site about everything related to front porches and more.

Check her website often for great ideas on container gardening here: http://www.front-porch-ideas-and-more.com/container-gardening.html

Garden Pots is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape

Enhance the Looks of Your Yard with Garden Art

Author: Caitlina Fuller

The summer season is far to short in many parts of the country, and many of us who have our own homes or who are fortunate enough to have a bit of lawn to call our own, love to spend time in the yard making it look great. We spend countless hours mowing the grass, trimming away the weeds and planting bushes, shrubs and flowers in order for our yard to look its best.

A well cared for yard looks wonderful. The beautiful flowers that are planted along the fence line look outstanding and the lawn is well groomed, but something still seems to be missing. What more can you do to make your yard look even more cozy and inviting? Why not consider decorating your yard a bit by adding a few colorful garden stakes to the small herb garden you have planted there in the corner? Garden stakes are available in a wide variety of sizes, styles and colors and are the perfect way to add a bit of whimsy to your home and garden. Garden stakes can also be used indoors to spruce up a houseplant or can also be ideal for giving new life to your balcony or patio. You can find garden stakes that are full of color, fun and motion.

Another charming decoration for yard are lawn ornaments. Again, lawn ornaments like garden stakes come in a wide array of sizes, shapes, colors and are made out of wood, metal, clay, or plastic. Lawn ornaments can come in human form, animal form, as fountains, bird baths, bird houses and garden gnomes to name a few. You can easily express yourself by choosing a lawn ornament that tells visitors what you are all about. Perhaps you collect turtle figurines. Then adding a few turtle-inspired  lawn ornaments and placing them around your yard is a great way to expand your collection and surround yourself with what you love.

We all love our yards and gardens and there is no better way to add a bit of charm to the  utside of the house than by adding some garden art to the mix. Nearly every well kept and  nice garden includes some form of garden art, be it a fountain, a pink flamingo or a few spinning garden stakes lining the walkway. It's fun, it's delightful and best of all it does not have to cost an arm and an leg to decorate your yard.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/enhance-the-looks-of-your-yard-with-garden-art-1206148.html

About the Author

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. Garden stakes can also be used indoors to spruce up a houseplant or can also be ideal for giving new life to your balcony or patio. Another charming decoration for yard are lawn ornaments. Again, lawn ornaments like garden stakes come in a wide array of sizes, shapes, colors and are made out of wood, metal, clay, or plastic. Nearly every well kept and nice garden includes some form of garden art, be it a fountain, a pink flamingo or a few spinning garden stakes lining the walkway.

Garden Art is a post from: Popular Garden and Landscape