Ideas Abundant for a Modern Charming Garden:

A garden can be a delightful conglomeration of sparkling water, ornate stones and birdhouses. Turn this space into a virtual paradise with things you like, says Neera Gulati.

Wherever we turn, we are offered objects and features designed to beautify our gardens and compliment our plantings, by today’s design-conscious gardeners to enhance outdoor environment. Fountains spilling sparkling water, carved stepped stones, mosaic encrusted urns and glazing globes of every hue are just a few of our temptations. How do you combine these objects in your garden without producing a jumble?

Though décor does so much to give a garden its character, your guide, expressed through the ornamental elements you select. Thus you should only choose the objects you love, as it will reflect your taste.

Personal choices
It is a challenge to combine personal choices with other garden elements such as plants, furnishings and cladding for walls. In style, spirit and materials, nowadays there’s a tremendous choice of garden decor.

Ornaments are largely what give your garden individual character, many gardens have the same planting in common, but decorative accents are applied with your own personal stamp. You may be a flea market buyer or a fine art collector, perhaps an artist yourself. As long as you place your selections thoughtfully in their settings, just about anything can make a pleasing and attractive garden ornament. You can use anything from funky objects to animals created from ceramic or metal or even living shrubbery. Stone frogs can be used in different styles in your garden. Like a frog reading a book sitting in a corner bench. You can let your imagination go wild, if you want to.

So it is upto you to decide what to do with the ornament you’ve selected. Do you want to tuck the ornament, a frog in this case, among the leaves or to place it on a pedestal? You have to decide if you want to scatter the ornaments wildly among the flower borders or you prefer to arrange it neatly in a row. Presented in a unique and original way, even a plastic flamingo can look good, or a cast concrete pig slumbering beneath his patch work quilt. Faces fabricated from metal have a contemporary feel that makes an interesting contrast to the old fashioned flowers. Colourful long necked chain and spring sculptures placed near a water body can look good.

Antique ideas
An old dining room chair can take on a new life with a cushiony seat of grass. A collection of bowling balls with hand crafted ceramic bamboo canes can do wonders for your garden. Sunlight glances of a metal butterfly can add a permanent touch of colour and shine to a flower border. A lady scarecrow with bright colourful flowers can be added in your garden. An old pair of boots can be used to plant certain shrubs to give a different look.

An original work in steel partnered with soft textured grass, can be allowed to rust naturally, for it to resemble a piece from the past. Sections of terracotta drain tile can be stacked to create a trickling fountain.

One easy, low cost way to dress a patio or deck is to give plain clay or red wood containers your own custom paint job. But before you begin, it’s a good idea to waterproof your pot for it to be functional and long-lasting. You can also keep a birdhouse with colourful bees chirping in the middle of the garden with seven dwarfs sculptured in metal sitting on the top of the birdhouse.

A classic old watering can stands ready for sprinkling the planted bouquet. An antique lantern hung on one post below the rose covered pergola or lends a sense of old time graciousness in the garden.

Contemporary art created especially for the gardener is a joy to look at. In an expansive garden, a very large sculpture makes a bold statement.

A sensuous folded form of a fountain molded of concrete, against a backdrop of a wall or tree trunk can do wonders. Set into a vibrantly coloured stucco walls, a curve of a fibre optic light sculpture can be a interesting vision by day and night.

In a small garden, you can use a few imaginative tricks with mirrors, windows and paint to expand space and multiply images. Even fragments of old mirrors cropped among plants against a fence can reflect light and images in surprising ways. (Just be sure the sharp edges won’t harm children or pets). And if you face a blank garage or a tiny patio that ends abruptly at the property line, you can do wonders with an art work anything like a jungle garden.

There is no end to creativity. I can go on and on with imagination, so can you. So go ahead and do wonders to your garden.


The author is an interior designer and can be contacted at 9845070824 or email: modcconinterior@rediffmail.com