Last Updated on April 20, 2020
Does your garden look messy? Would you love to hire a landscape architect but you can’t afford it? If you answered yes to both questions, you’re in the same position I am.
I decided to be my own gardener. I don’t want fancy arrangements that require regular maintenance work. I just want my garden to look neat, to be a place where my friends and family love to relax.
Since I did the brainstorming for my garden decoration, I want to share my ideas with you. Some of them will never pass the idea stage, but I do hope to implement a few of them. Photos will follow as I advance with my work. If you have more ideas, you are welcome to add them in the comments.
1. Use stepping stones instead of classic stone or concrete paths
As much as I love grass, it’s not practical for me to give up paths. It rains a lot here, so no paths mean either getting messy or not walking in the garden at all during rainy days. I only want to have one main path from the gate to the house. For the rest of the garden, I’ll use stepping stones. I found some awesome ones here.
You can follow the previous link to see them all. These are my choices:
Flower Power Stepping Stone Set
*Flip Flop Stepping Stones – Right & Left*
I’ll probably go for the Ginkgo, but I’m not sure yet. It’s $85 a piece. I need about eight of them to go from the house door to the gazebo. Then I need 4-5 more for two other small imaginary paths I have in mind. When you calculate how many stones you need, you have to make sure the distance between two stones is one average step maximum. You want to walk normally, not jump from stone to stone like a goat.
2. Use sods to make the lawn. It will look great from day one.
3. Choose your flowers wisely. I like to see flowers blooming as many months as possible. Tulips will make your garden look gorgeous in April. Daffodils, Azalea and Epiphyllum will bloom in May. The Coreopsis flowers bloom in June. Some species of Hydrangeas bloom from June to early autumn.
4. Attract birds with a birdfeeder.
Birdfeeders and birdbaths are real points of attraction for those little cuties. Bear in mind, though, that birds make a lot of mess, so you need to be prepared for some additional cleaning work if you want to enjoy their singing in your garden. I like this Cherub birdfeeder:
Isn’t it cute? I might not get one of these, though, because my garden is small. There are birdfeeders which can be attached on a tree or on a wall, like this one:
This is a birdbath which I like very much (I might want a couple of these to put them nearby the deck):
5. Illuminate the driveway, garden paths and terraces with floor lamps.
6. Get a waterfall or a garden fountain. The sound of falling water is relaxing and as far as I remember, there are some good things in Feng-Shui about fountains (I don’t remember much, but they seem to be good for attracting wealth). Anyway, here’s a nice looking waterfall:
If you buy a fountain, you can skip the birdbath. Birds will come to your fountain to drink water and have a nice, cold bath during hot summer days. Here’s a urn fountain which is perfect for this purpose:
*Best Seller* The Palazzo Urn Fountain
Solar fountains are also great, especially if you live in a sunny area. Here’s a cascading solar fountain:
Four-Tier Terracotta Mosaic Cascading Solar Fountain
7. Plant one or more trees. As they grow, you’ll enjoy their shadow.
8. Design a garden labyrinth. The difference between a labyrinth and a maze is that the labyrinth is a continuous path that doesn’t have any dead ends. It goes to the center, then as you keep walking, it will take you to the exit again. You’ll find it relaxing to just walk, step after step, without having to take any decisions or think about your actions.
9. Use planters for a “welcoming home” effect.
I’d choose very simple urns or bowls, something like this one:
10. Get cast stone garden furniture. This Faux Bois bench looks really cool:
11. Get garden wind chimes. If you live in a very windy area, you might want to skip this idea, as it can turn out quite noisy.
12. Install bird houses in trees. You can craft them yourself together with your children. They’ll love it.
13. Add a few garden rocks to enhance your plants and flowers. Creating the illusion of relief is a good idea.
14. Install sprinklers. They are useful and fun.
15. Get a giant chess set. If there are people in your family who play chess, that’s even better.
16. Hide a few garden dwarfs or gnomes behind trees or flower beds. Here’s a garden gnome with bird bath (not small, but still cute):
17. If you liked idea 16, bring Snow White home to make those dwarfs happy.
18. Install a gazebo. They look good and they are awesome for hot days.
19. Plant a pine tree and decorate it for Christmas. You’ll save many trees from getting cut and your garden will look colorful and warm even in winter time.
20. Get a few garden art items such as wind spinners, windmills, tree art, metal bug décor or cast stone plaques. Here are a few ideas:
If you use some of my ideas, don’t forget to send me pictures of your garden. I’ll publish them 🙂
