So Much More to Garden Décor!



Posted: Thursday, July 21, 2005

by lorien1973
Online Discount Mart Home & Garden Decor

Garden décor used to be the province of the dedicated gardener or designer, who often had to search and search before they ferreted out just the right piece to set off their rockery or flowerbeds. But those days are gone, and now even the most casual landscape artist can easily find a few well-chosen pieces that will turn their lawn and garden into a showplace that reflects their good taste and creativity.

One of the favorite focal points for a garden or section of lawn, are the traditional gazing balls. Hand-blown glass orbs first appeared as decorations, in Venice, Italy sometime in the 13th century. Through the years they have been known by many names including good luck balls, garden balls, Victorian balls, wedding balls, witch balls and globes of happiness, given to a bride to celebrate her special day. They enjoyed an upswing in popularity during the Victorian era, when as part of Germanic Christmas traditions, Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree, and the “kugels", German blown glass globes used as ornaments. Some of these were small enough to decorate the tree, but others were large, and either sat on a sideboard, or hung outside. Indoors, they were often used by servants to observe guests at dinner, so that they wouldn’t appear to be staring. Outdoors, or in windows, it was believed they would repel witches, who saw their reflections in the shiny surface. Today, the gazing globe is a popular centerpiece in outdoor décor schemes, generally placed on a pedestal, in a prominent location where it will catch the sun. And for an accent, in the garden you can also have a smaller, but still delightful woodland animal like a rabbit with a gazing ball in its paws.

Fountains are another exciting addition to your lawn and garden. And they’re not complicated to install or maintain, either. Depending on where you want to place one, you can get Roman-style wall fountains featuring the traditional lion’s head, or a cascading cherub fountain that doubles as a birdbath. Most run on common household current, and cleaning is as simple as washing it out every few weeks with a few drops of bleach to remove the algae and dirt that has accumulated. If you want the birdbath without the running water, there are still lots of classic and elegant choices, including the Roman pedestal bird bath, or the exquisite and highly decorative mosaic tile birdbath.

Some of the newer lawn and garden decorations to come along in recent years include garden flags and solar lights. The flags are an excellent way to welcome in the changing seasons, holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. They come on easy to push into the earth brackets, and can be changed in no time at all. Choose individual patterns for each garden, or coordinate the whole look with matching house flags and mailbox covers. Solar lights are handy to light up your driveway or a path, and arranged by the garden, can add to the nighttime scenery.

Garden figurines are as popular as ever, and include a wide range of the mythical, like cherubs, fairies and dragons, as well as Nature’s pets, like rabbits, cats, raccoons and dog figurines. Of course, for the historic and hysterical, there’s nothing quite like a garden gnome to brighten up the lawn and garden.

So when you’ve got a yen for garden décor, do a little browsing and see if there isn’t something new that takes your fancy. It takes no time at all to order one and have it out in your garden where you can sit under the trees in your Adirondack chairs and enjoy your newest acquisitions.
This Article has been viewed 352 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.