Garden Accessories
Flowers and plants are rightly the central attraction of your garden, but they needn’t be the only one. Garden accessories can add character and fun to your garden as well as serving useful purposes. From sculpted row markers and border fences to fully-functional fountains and ponds, here are the features of some of the best-dressed gardens.
Borders
One of the easiest and most affordable ways to define your garden space is with borders. You can purchase border fencing by the foot or yard at your local garden and home supply store, from white wire fences to elaborate plastic sculptured moldings designed to be pushed into the ground on garden stakes. You can also use items like bricks, old railroad ties, stones, or just about anything else to define edges and create contrast within your garden.
Row Markers and Signs
The simplest of row markers consist of a popsicle stick pushed into the ground and sliding the seed packet over the top, but they’re not terribly elegant, or for that matter, durable. Garden supply and novelty shops feature a huge variety of row markers and signs in styles that range from whimsical plastic sculptures of vegetables to elegantly hand crafted iron markers.
Garden Gnomes and Lawn Toys
Nothing expresses personal style quite like a lawn decoration. Pink flamingoes, garden gnomes, and grandma fannies are only a few examples of the silly, playful garden accessories that can find a home in your garden. Pinwheels, garden streamers and windsocks all can add color and whimsy to your gardening. Stepping stones and cement statues can also be purchased or made from kits. Who said gardening had to be serious?
Birdbaths and Pedestals
Birdbaths are a great way to invite birds into your garden. Whether set into the ground as a small pond or on a pedestal, they can add a touch of old world elegance to a shrubbery or foliage garden and help you attract butterflies and feathered friends.
Benches
The best way to enjoy a garden is from within it. Plan your garden with benches along the paths or at the center of a clearing. Garden benches are easy to find at home supply stores and department stores for very cheap and more durable choices exist including cast iron, resin, wood, or stone.
Trellises
Decorative trellises and arches do more than serve as supports for climbing plants and vines. They can be a beautiful accent on their own. Whether you choose a simple iron fan trellis in a corner of the garden, or build an elaborate arbor or gazebo to support roses and ivy, they’ll add a grace note of natural beauty and add to the enjoyment of your garden.
Fountains and Ponds
You don’t have to be a landscape architect to have your own garden pond or fountain. Even small spaces can sport running water with a container garden, a concealed circulating pump and a nearby power source. A full-sized pond complete with tadpoles and lilypads or a trickling waterfall over rocks can bring life and serenity to your garden.