Beautiful Garden Ornaments

Perhaps you've visited a neighborhood with manicured lawns and lovely gardens, and have noticed beautiful garden ornaments. When you assess your own garden, you think how much more attractive it could be with pleasing garden ornaments. So, you go to your local garden center and choose an elegant piece of statuary, and several smaller pieces, and install them in your garden. Then you stand back and realize with dismay that the pieces look out of place and gaudy, detracting from the beauty of the plants.

When purchasing garden ornaments, some gardeners make the common mistake of inappropriate quantity and size. They tend to burden their gardens with too many pieces placed haphazardly, or one focal piece that is too small. The rule of thumb for beautiful garden ornaments is usually that less is more, and statuary should be size-appropriate.

Follow these simple guidelines for choosing and displaying beautiful garden ornaments:

• Consider the overall style of your garden and home, and choose complimentary pieces. If you have a small ranch house, a large statue would look vulgar and ornate.
• Think of your garden as a blank wall in your home. You wouldn't haphazardly hang pictures before making a plan based on size and color. The same rule applies for placing garden ornaments. Don't place so many garden ornaments that clutter is the first thing you see.
• Place garden ornaments inconspicuously. While a large focal ornament or statue makes a bold statement, there is a simple delight in strolling through a garden to find a small cherub statue or a gazing ball peeking from underneath the leaf of a Hosta.

There are endless garden ornaments and landscape accents available to gardeners. Peruse garden catalogs, visit garden and home improvement centers, and research them online. Here is a short list of just some of the beautiful garden ornaments available:

• Whimsical statues
• Topiaries
• Plant towers
• Armillary
• Bird feeders
• Water fountains
• Solar lighting
• Carved soapstone
• Bird baths
• Gazing balls
• Wrought iron benches
• Celestial globes

By no means is that an exhaustive list. Within each ornament category, there are subcategories. Take the time to plan how your garden will look with landscape accents, and decide if the ones you choose will work harmoniously with your garden. Beautiful garden ornaments should also accent and never detract from the tranquility of your garden.