Garden decorations such as sculptures and ornaments add interest to the garden all year long, complementing the planting in summer and acting as a focal point in winter when plants have died back. Here are our top tips on using garden decorations to add your own personal touch to your garden.
Choosing and Placing Garden Decorations
Sculptures, decorative pots, and other artwork can add an extra dimension to your garden. Here are a few tips on placing sculptures and other garden decorations for the best effect.
- Place sculptures or other garden decorations at the end of a pathway or in the centre of a courtyard to create a focal point.
- Use them to add interest to a dull area of the garden.
- Remember to consider the object's view from all sides when placing it.
- Avoid large solid sculptures for a small garden. Instead, choose something open that you can see through, which won’t dominate the space in the way a solid piece would.
- To get an idea of the size of the piece that you want, use a cardboard box or something similar in the spot where you plan to put your artwork, to get an idea of scale.
Winter Garden Decorations
Garden decorations have a vital role in winter. When the borders are bare, garden decorations take over the role of creating structure, colour, and interest. Artworks, pieces of sculpture, or even just large decorative pots can act as focal points, giving you something to look at even on cold, grey days. Because you’ll mainly be looking at them from inside the house in winter, check the view from your windows when placing garden decorations before deciding on their final positioning.
Some of the best winter garden decorations may already be in your garden. Bare trees have wonderful structures, which can be enhanced by wrapping the branches in strings of fairy lights so that you can appreciate their shape at night. Glass jars filled with fairy light strings also make beautiful winter garden ornaments, dotted around borders or along paths.
Decorative plant supports and being useful in summer, often make beautiful winter garden decorations, adding structure and interest to otherwise bare borders.
Combining Plants and Garden Decorations
Plants make a beautiful backdrop for artwork. Soft planting contrasts very effectively with bold, solid pieces and looks perfect with a traditional garden statue or an old-fashioned sundial. Bold-leaved plants like hostas or elder create a tropical effect that suits oriental garden decorations like stone lanterns or Buddha statues.
When planning the planting around your garden decorations, consider how the plants' colours will complement the artwork as the seasons change. You could choose artwork to highlight the beauty of autumn or to harmonize with summer planting. Provided your garden decorations look good to you, they’re in the right place!
