How to Decorate a Garden
Written By: Zack Sher
Edited By: Zack Sher
Designed By: Zack Sher & Samantha Porte
Published By: Samantha Porte
There’s a sense of elegance associated with a well-manicured garden. This idea is not new; mankind innately appreciates natural beauty. Unfortunately, however, curb appeal is often neglected in the eyes of aspiring gardeners and many regard the ‘picture perfect’ garden as unobtainable. But cultivating an aesthetically pleasing garden is a painless task. So here is how YOU can properly decorate your garden in five easy steps!
Ornaments are your Friend
Garden ornaments have the ability to elevate your garden from basic, to elegant. Moreover, garden ornaments can create an outline for the plants within your garden and are excellent for capturing one’s attention. However, when using garden ornaments, make sure to find the balance between simplicity and polish. Using large garden gnomes or bulky structures can negate the serenity of the garden, and it’s beneficial to be simple. In other words, use small structures and ornaments that compliment your garden’s colour scheme, without taking away from the plants themselves. Furthermore, tell a story with your ornaments; a boring garden is a flawed garden.
Good Lighting will Pay Dividends
A robust lighting system is essential to a garden’s curb appeal. A lighting system differentiates a garden from the competition, attracts attention at night, and contributes to a garden’s overall appearance. When designing your garden’s lighting system, ensure that the electric lights are well-placed. In other words, it’s imperative that the light bounces and reflects off trees and plants, in order to ensure the best viewing angle from the sidewalk. Furthermore, utilize red and orange hues in order to create the illusion of romanticism, and these shades complement the glow of the moon. However, it’s important that the lights match the essence of the garden. For instance, a simplistic garden should utilize small and modern lights, and a larger and more traditional garden should use lanterns that match the vibe of the garden. Moreover, it’s important to find the balance between overcrowding the garden with lights, as this appears unsettling, and not using enough lights. At the end of the day, find what works best for your garden’s lighting system!
The Importance of Colour Schemes
Experienced gardeners understand the value of utilizing compelling colour schemes. In other words, it’s important to focus on colour schemes that complement each other, as a contrasting garden, is an unpleasing garden. According to the traditional colour wheel, red flowers complement green flowers, yellow flowers compliment purple flowers, and blue flowers compliment orange flowers. Furthermore, make sure to prevent clumps of the same colour in particular spots, as this will create the illusion of a lack of balance. A useful technique is using a variety of shades of the same colour, as this creates a natural progression as people survey your garden. Feel free to be creative, as colour is one of your greatest allies when it comes to designing your garden!
Use Ceramics Planters and Flower Pots
Carefully placed ceramics are the perfect compliment to a well-manicured flower bed and flower pots and planters are an excellent way to boost your garden. As a rule of thumb, place ceramic flower pots above the flower bed. This creates the illusion of top-to-bottom balance in the garden and is excellent for achieving depth. Furthermore, ceramic flower pots and planters provide splashes of colour that draw the eye from a distance. Ensure that the ceramics complement the colour scheme of the garden, and enhance what is already there. However, overcrowding the garden with flower pots quickly becomes an issue. Ceramics are not intended to take over and become the focal point of the garden; rather, they work better in the backdrop of the garden. In short, when placed correctly, ceramic flower planters have the ability to completely elevate your garden and are essential components of garden design.
Do not be Scared off by Unique Displays
It is more than alright to get funky with your garden. A fun garden is often a beautiful garden. In other words, feel free to be creative! This is your garden we’re talking about, and you’re the judge. So do NOT conform to what you see around you, and feel confident using unique displays. For instance, an old wheelbarrow can be painted and used as a beautiful flower bed. Or an old bookcase could be the perfect, overgrown planter. Moreover, do not be opposed to using wooden structures in your garden. Wood perfectly complements the natural qualities of a garden and is a useful tool. For example, wooden frames make beautiful flower beds! Have you ever thought about creating a miniature bridge structure in your garden? Go for it! What about creating funky, circular patterns with vegetable plants? Do it! Creativity yields the best results, and be unique when designing your garden.
Designing a garden is truly quite simple.
At the end of the day, just make sure to have fun with it!