What is your favorite garden art that you have in your garden or would like to have?

[pinball]

Extra points if it is homemade out of found objects or some super cheap mass market product that doesn’t look super cheap and mass market (ie under $10-$20).

Ive had my Pinterest eye on those sign posts that have a few different locations. If they are real locations, mileage is included. But I want to make one with fictional locations...like Narnia, Neverland, 100 Acre Woods, etc.

Although I think it’d be cute to have real locations, too. Maybe where loved ones live or favorite vacation spots.

Ive got to start scouring for wood to make this happen.

https://fleamarketgardening.org/2014/08/02/directional-sign-posts-for-the-garden/amp/

[prairiewindmomma]

I have wind chimes and a gnome collection. I saved for a few years to get my chimes and I have 0 regrets. I have to keep my gnomes hidden in the back yard because gnome theft is a real problem. 

My next garden art acquisition is going to be some blown glass floats or some swimming salmon sculptures.

If you are really into DIY art...I would look at some of the thrift store sculpting ideas you can find on Pinterest. I found a  spoon fish sculpture that is intriguing. https://www.spoon.fish/listing/165550949/great-gift-idea-upcycled-and-antique

 

[MercyA]

I love wind chimes. If you are on a budget, Jacob's Chimes are tuned and still very inexpensive. 

I also like hanging prisms on porches. 🌈

My sweet mother gave me a beautiful statue of Joan of Arc as a peasant girl, and she is one of my favorite things outside. I try to keep my eye out at yard sales for other statues. I'd love to have a St. Francis one with animals or some fun gnomes. My daughter likes to arrange a fairy garden with little figures and accessories every year. 

[WildflowerMom]

35 minutes ago, pinball said:

Extra points if it is homemade out of found objects or some super cheap mass market product that doesn’t look super cheap and mass market (ie under $10-$20).

Ive had my Pinterest eye on those sign posts that have a few different locations. If they are real locations, mileage is included. But I want to make one with fictional locations...like Narnia, Neverland, 100 Acre Woods, etc.

Although I think it’d be cute to have real locations, too. Maybe where loved ones live or favorite vacation spots.

Ive got to start scouring for wood to make this happen.

https://fleamarketgardening.org/2014/08/02/directional-sign-posts-for-the-garden/amp/

I love those signs!  I want one with our favorite places!  

I have a stepping stone we made with concrete and a cardboard box bottom and trinkets when our dog passed away 10+ years ago.    

I also love anything that catches the wind and moves.   

I don't necessarily like traditional wind chimes, but I do love the bamboo ones.  

[WildflowerMom]

I also want a st Francis statue, but the ones I see are all small and cheaply made.  

[marbel]

We have a small collection of concrete (or at least they look like concrete, or stone) animals scattered around the back yard: a toad, hedgehog, rabbit, and a couple more I can't remember without going outside.  Also have a freestanding trellis that has nothing growing up it - we have had no success growing annual vines on it and I don't want a "permanent" planting like a clematis right now. But I like the wrought iron trellis anyway. 

I kind of want an armillary though I fear they have become cliche?  

I'd like something with a little color, like a gazing ball, but have to figure out exactly where that would go. Also, cliche? Not that it matters if I like it. And speaking of cliches, if I came across a classic pink flamingo I wouldn't mind that. Someone gave me a type of flamingo once, but it was a poor imitation of the "real" thing, and rusted quickly.  

Not really into wind chimes and in any case my neighbors have enough for both of us, lol. 

Our back yard is pretty messy and  ugly right now, though we have a nice shade garden going. (Also plenty of sunny area for flowers and vegetables.) But also too many tools, etc. The ultimate piece of yard art for me would be a nice-looking shed for all the stuff that seems to live outside. 

[athena1277]

I’m slowly growing a collection of gnomes and other cute, not expensive things I like.  There’s a big flowerbed to one side of our front door that is hideous.  At some point this summer I plan to rip out most of what is there and fix it up super cute with my gnomes and some plants.

[pinball]

@marbel

we have a few iron trellises that are not in use bc the plants they were purchased for got too big. When we were cleaning the garden in the fall, in order to get a string of solar lights out of the way momentarily, we wrapped it around a trellis.

and forgot about it. So that night, when it lit up:

it turned out to be one of the prettiest things in the garden. The bulbs were very big and crackled, and it wrapped in such a way that it looked carelessly perfect. (Much like how some women can do a “messy bun” and look just adorable but if I try to do it, I look like I can’t brush my hair!)

so id like to do kind of a “wall” of trellises. I just have to get some more of those type of solar lights. I know they are every where, but I’ve never been able to find this particular kind again, big and crackled.

[marbel]

Just now, pinball said:

@marbel

we have a few iron trellises that are not in use bc the plants they were purchased for got too big. When we were cleaning the garden in the fall, in order to get a string of solar lights out of the way momentarily, we wrapped it around a trellis.

and forgot about it. So that night, when it lit up:

it turned out to be one of the prettiest things in the garden. The bulbs were very big and crackled, and it wrapped in such a way that it looked carelessly perfect. (Much like how some women can do a “messy bun” and look just adorable but if I try to do it, I look like I can’t brush my hair!)

so id like to do kind of a “wall” of trellises. I just have to get some more of those type of solar lights. I know they are every where, but I’ve never been able to find this particular kind again, big and crackled.

Oh hey.. you just gave me a brilliant idea. We just bought some solar string lights and that trellis may be just the thing for them!  Wow thanks for posting!

[Jenny in Florida]

Not sure this counts, but I have put my son on notice that after his dad and I move into our new house next month I want to build a sleep shed in the backyard. I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping for the last year and find I just crave being able to camp or otherwise sleep outside. At some point during the house hunt, I also reluctantly accepted that my husband and I were never going to find a Frank Lloyd Wright-esque home that we both loved, that was in a location we liked and that we could afford. So, we're buying a pretty typical circa 2000 Central Florida house and I'm planning to build a mid-century-inspired shed in the yard. With a little pathway from the back door of the lanai.

I'm hoping to use mostly reclaimed wood.

I might even put in a skylight.

(I figure that, someday, my grandchildren might use it as a playhouse and/or for backyard campouts of their own.)

I also want a burbling fountain that I can hear from the bedroom window.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Jenny in Florida

[Terabith]

Well, I'd LIKE a cool metal dragon statue, but we all know that's apparently not happening....

[Miss Tick]

I want a an organ pipe from the Sound Garden! Ideally i could learn to weld and tune and make it myself.

In the meantime i have two Leopold benches that i constructed with two of my kids.

Edited April 22, 2021 by SusanC
when I'm excited i forget to proofread

[Terabith]

11 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I have thing for solar lights, sculptures, chandeliers. You name it.

If the TX sun shines bright, our garden looks really nice in at light.

I also love stepping stones with sayings. 

I am trying not to get into fairy gardens. I am so tempted. I loved doll houses as a little girl and I have one myself. 

You have a 5 year old little girl.  You NEED a fairy garden!

[*Jessica*]

My favorite garden decoration is a really small cast iron birdbath I bought for $20 at a vintage shop.  It sits on top of a millstone that my grandparents had sitting in their basement.  It looks much nicer when there are flowers nearby and there isn’t snow on the ground!  

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, WildflowerMom said:

I also want a st Francis statue, but the ones I see are all small and cheaply made.  

I've been very happy with things from Design Toscano! My Joan of Arc statue is from them and I recently bought my parents a very cute little goldfinch statue from them for their golden anniversary. They have a fab St. Francis selection:

https://www.designtoscano.com/search.do?query=saint francis

[MercyA]

50 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Well, I'd LIKE a cool metal dragon statue, but we all know that's apparently not happening....

I think Cheddar the metal dragon would fit right in in your neighborhood. 🙂

If you have a dark sense of humor, you might try Dragon's Gonna Get Ya! Gnome Apocalypse statue.

Drooling over this monument-size Welsh dragon statue.

And here are some very nice traditional dragons.

[MercyA]

33 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I am trying not to get into fairy gardens. I am so tempted. I loved doll houses as a little girl and I have one myself. 

There is no downside to fairy gardens!! They are so fun and inexpensive. They can be stored in a shoebox or two at the end of the season (or not, if you don't have snowy winters). You can add so many things to them...little glass stones, painted rocks, tiny colored bottles...

You totally should do it.

Signed, played-with-my-childhood-dollhouse-two-days-ago Mercy 😉 

[marbel]

Well, thanks to this thread I have spent WAY too much time today looking at this site.  Mostly bird-related, if you like that sort of thing. (I do!)

 

https://perchbirding.com/

[MercyA]

Just now, marbel said:

Well, thanks to this thread I have spent WAY too much time today looking at this site.  Mostly bird-related, if you like that sort of thing. (I do!)

 

https://perchbirding.com/

Love it! 

BTW, I don't know if these are your speed (they are kind of quirky), but earlier today I noticed this Etsy shop, full of garden birds crafted from PVC. They have a pink flamingo. I am partial to the herons. 🙂 

[MercyA]

@pinball, thanks for the fun thread!!! 

[marbel]

1 minute ago, MercyA said:

Love it! 

BTW, I don't know if these are your speed (they are kind of quirky), but earlier today I noticed this Etsy shop, full of garden birds crafted from PVC. They have a pink flamingo. I am partial to the herons. 🙂 

Oh those are cute!  

[marbel]

1 minute ago, MercyA said:

@pinball, thanks for the fun thread!!! 

Yes, it is much needed!

 

[BlsdMama]

More hostas? Prettier hostas? This isn’t the answer, is it? 😉 

[alpacawalker]

I have a concrete bunny and a little frog and alligator tucked away in the plants.  A cute toad house in a corner too.  Bird houses, a screech owl nest box, and a bat house in the yard.  But what I really want is one of those giant metal roosters.  I have a small one maybe 18 inches tall, but a big one would be fun.  Our hens would think twice about going near the garden with him in there.

[pinball]

5 minutes ago, alpacawalker said:

I have a concrete bunny and a little frog and alligator tucked away in the plants.  A cute toad house in a corner too.  Bird houses, a screech owl nest box, and a bat house in the yard.  But what I really want is one of those giant metal roosters.  I have a small one maybe 18 inches tall, but a big one would be fun.  Our hens would think twice about going near the garden with him in there.

Language warning

https://thebloggess.com/2011/06/21/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/

This is about 515 years old in internet time but still funny

[alpacawalker]

5 minutes ago, pinball said:

Language warning

https://thebloggess.com/2011/06/21/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/

This is about 515 years old in internet time but still funny

I read this a while back after someone posted it. I laughed so hard.  It spurred the purchase of our small rooster.  I had to read it to my dd, modified to exclude the language.  We still laugh about it.

[pinball]

Just now, alpacawalker said:

I read this a while back after someone posted it. I laughed so hard.  It spurred the purchase of our small rooster.  I had to read it to my dd, modified to exclude the language.  We still laugh about it.

if you get a large metal chicken, I hope you find a good deal and get $200 worth of chicken for free. LOL

[KungFuPanda]

I don't have any garden art, but I have a few things on the Someday list.  I'd like a statue of Demeter because I hate the cold and feel her sorrow deeply.  I haven't seen any I like that aren't a gajillion dollars, but I'll find one eventually.  I also have a rhododendron out front that I want to turn into a WV themed garden, so I'm gonna need a sculped wood black bear and some sort of cardinal for my little back home area.  Also, ever since I watched The Great British Gardening Revival I won't rest until I make a tiny pond.  It's already their fault I have a little 4 x 8ish "meadow."  I have some solar lights, but I live in the woods so they only get enough sun to light up for a couple hours at night.

ETA: I also want a Deathly Hallows shaped herb garden, but I'm not sure I'm a neat enough gardener to pull it off. 😁

Edited April 23, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[KungFuPanda]

27 minutes ago, alpacawalker said:

I read this a while back after someone posted it. I laughed so hard.  It spurred the purchase of our small rooster.  I had to read it to my dd, modified to exclude the language.  We still laugh about it.

I don't even have to click on it and I know it's BEYONCE!

[Carol in Cal.]

I would like a small hobbit house.

Also, one of those 3 piece things that looks like an alligator is just crawling up out of your mud.  I can want this because I am in California where there are no alligators outside of the zoo, so they are not truly a threat.

[Jenny in Florida]

12 hours ago, pinball said:

Language warning

https://thebloggess.com/2011/06/21/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/

This is about 515 years old in internet time but still funny

So glad you posted this. I thought immediately of this piece, but you beat me to sharing it.

[pinball]

I’m really enjoying this thread!

[gardenmom5]

We had a pavilion built this past winter.   We are really liking it, as we've started spending time there.  It gives the shade to make the deck useable during the day.  I have lighting, but I really liked the idea of a couple spots on a large vine maple at the corner of the deck.  that is on my list when I'm done with seating.  (we have to replace the fire pit).  

dh's favorite are all the red geranium hayracks along the edges of the deck.  we overwintered four of the hayracks by bringing them into the garage around november.  I put them out the end of march/beginning of april when it wasn't freezing anymore.  (seven of the plants - four to a planter - over wintered 19-20 winter while they were outside.  so some of the plants are on their third year.)

What I would really like to add are a series of three basalt columns water fountain.  I'd probably put them where they could be seen by the deck.  have the large chimes from costco - the sound is very pleasant, and deep.  

I have a 'dry' falls stream - with steel cutout salmon swimming upstream.  they make me laugh  (need to fix the lights on them).  I got a bear to put at the top, but it needs stakes as it was meant to be wall mounted.  I need to put it on dh desk so he remembers.

 I have a steel cutout family of quail..   There is a steel cutout woodpecker on the side of the house in honor of the (ererererer) flicker that would pound on the house every spring.

[Spryte]

Fairy garden.  Well, at this point we have a fairy village.  It’s under a flowering tree, and right now has a carpet of pink petals that look like snow.  It has tiny stepping stone paths between houses and actual little fairy sized “gardens.” It’s a mix of handmade and store bought items from the Plow and Hearth outlet, which is local to us, so we scored some serious deals.

Our village started with just a door, a la UFO (Urban Fairy Operations).  That door matched our old front door and started with that house.  Tiny replica.  When we moved here, the fairies moved into the backyard and expanded.

Puddles the Dragon is a cute little garden dragon who lives near the pavilion.

We also have a metal dragon perched atop the woodpile holder near the firepit. Made by a metal sculptor artist friend 20 years ago or so.

ETA: DH made me a fountain with a bamboo spout that poured onto a stack of river rocks.  He drilled holes in the rocks and ran rebar through the middle (it’s invisible) to keep them in place.  It’s maybe 2 - 3 feet tall.  I love it.  We actually only keep the stacked rocks now, the fountain was a lot of upkeep, though beautiful. It’s very Andy Goldsworthy-esque.

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Spryte

[Laura Corin]

Scotland has this boundary-marking custom where, when a boundary wall is built, a niche is left on the owner's side. We have five niches, each about 30cm by 30cm. They are obscured by planting in summer but a winter reveal of something in a niche would be good. I'm going to take measurements so that, when we can travel and shop again, we can pick up something fun.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Laura Corin

[Soror]

Listening for ideas...

[*****]

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gazing+ball+mirrors+mosaic&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

 

An acquaintance had this or something very similar in her yard the other day (mosaic for sure). I thought it was just gorgeous with the sun shining on it and reflecting as you moved walked along her sidewalk.  The reviews on Amazon are varied, but if I bought something to show off an area of my yard, I would try this.  It brought me happiness!  

[Catwoman]

On 4/22/2021 at 1:30 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

I have wind chimes and a gnome collection. I saved for a few years to get my chimes and I have 0 regrets. I have to keep my gnomes hidden in the back yard because gnome theft is a real problem. 

You need one of these:

 

[Lady Florida.]

I don't know if it counts as garden art but I wish we had taken some of the smaller coquina rocks from our previous house. They make perfect puddling stones for butterfly gardens (or for butterflies even if you don't have a butterfly garden).