Welcome to another edition of the Garden Designers Roundtable! We hope to help you this month with adding some class and culture to your garden–not that it isn’t already classy and full of culture, you understand. Gardens, by their nature, are inherently beautiful, aren’t they? Lush foliage, brilliant blooms, scampering vines and delicious fruits and veggies. But what if you want to add a little something extra? We decorate the inside of our houses, why not our gardens? The next time you’re out shopping, consider picking up an art piece to tuck into the corner somewhere. It doesn’t have to cost a lot; maybe you even make it yourself. Here are some ideas:
A Buddha statue that holds a flower.
Hanging glass art.
A mosaic fountain.
Wooden lawn ornament.
A humble blue gazing ball.
An elegant garden sculpture.
A mosaic wall.
Glass cattails.
A Papa Smurf. Hey, don’t hate; you know you love it.
Whether you create an elegant outdoor art gallery (art punctuating points on a meandering path, a sculpture garden, a stunning focal piece) or something more kitschy (bottle trees, Smurfs or homemade mosaics), your garden art should reflect your taste, your personality and your life. Unless your aim is to impress your neighbors or get on a garden tour, don’t worry too much about what other people think about your art choices. It’s your garden, and it should fill a spot inside you when you are in it. Buy what you love–and display Papa Smurf proudly!
Visit the sites of my colleagues of the Roundtable for more inspiration!
Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ
Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO
Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Change the Papa Smurf to Homer Simpson and you might have a sale! Thanks for a look at some great art!
Love the Buddha and cattails (are those Barbara’s, btw?) Every time I see her glass art my hand instinctively reaches for my wallet. Some day….soon, I think!
You and I are keeping gardens weird with our laid-back advice to use what you love, Jenny. “Unless your aim is to impress your neighbors or get on a garden tour, don’t worry too much about what other people think about your art choices” — absolutely! Nothing wrong with wanting to be a on garden tour, of course, but too many people worry about using art in the garden instead of just using what they love.
Couldn’t agree more – buy what you love – whether it’s $5 or $50,000! I crave a glass piece, too, but cringe at the thought of it being destroyed by hail…Thanks for the fun tour, Jenny!
There’s a place in Austin called the Cathedral of Junk–some guy has created an experiential garden out of other people’s junk. Everything recycled and and repurposed–not everyone’s taste, but you can’t beat if for originality!
Sometimes clients ask me to choose art for their gardens. I usually refuse. You are 110% correct that the best thing to do is include what you love. It’s never wrong. Gardens are a form of self expression for most and art just enhances that. Weird or wonderful it really doesn’t matter as long as you like it!
Thanks to your pictures, I’m adding a pink mosaic wall to my must have list.
Lovely selection of pics.
Just loving that mosaic fountain, just so great the way it worked with the landscape behind.
Think guidance re art and sculpture is something we can usefully include in the range of skills we offer clients, but it is very much a work with rather than an impose as should be all we do!
Papa Smurf? Yuk, personally! But I think that a little bit of bad taste almost like a spice jazzes things up a bit!
Thanks so much for this post.
best
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Ooh, the Cathedral of Junk sounds wonderful. Garden art can add so much personality…I say go for it!
Absolutely magnificent! The art and sculpture in the garden, their size, effect, and impact is dramatic and significant. Also provide visitors a deep appreciation of the relationship between art and nature.Spectacular artistic! Thanks for sharing.
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