Power of the Garden Ornament
Although it fulfills our desire for decoration, a garden ornament becomes far more than a candelabra on a mantel or the elaborate engraving on a silver tray. Gardeners who use ornaments in regard to style, materials, scale, position, companion plantings and historical factors have power over nothing less than space, time, mood, and memory. Garden ornaments lead the viewer’s eye to something special. Strategically placed, a wind chime or garden stake provides points of interest in the garden. A bench with a style that fits the fashion of your landscape can serve as a focal point at the end of a garden path in addition to being functional. You might use the bench under a favorite shade tree, or next to a fragrant bush or plant.
Well chosen and thoughtfully placed, a garden ornament can transform our experience on focus and space. You can incorporate more garden ornaments in your space as your garden becomes established and when you have finished all your plantings. The assortment of garden accents is almost endless. Statuary provides focus points of interest when worked into the overall garden design. A simple birdhouse or bird – feeding station can be used to lead the eye to individual points on interest. The constant trickling sound of water spilling over a garden fountain is soothing as well as creating a focal point for a small. walled area of your garden. Even for the smallest garden this can be a fascinating feature. Add some ornamental grasses and iris or lily plants for a new dimension to your landscape as form and color.
Garden ornaments have symbolic meaning that add resonance to the garden. Some meaning we bestow ourselves, others we might inherit from our families, churches and cultures from around the world. Certain styles of garden ornaments link the garden to the past, anchor it to the present, or nudge it to the future. And because many garden ornaments are easy to move around, when the inspiration strikes the mood of the garden may be changed at will. But if an ornament is chosen and placed with the head, not with the heart, it remains merely a garden object, adding only composition that functions well but has no soul.
It is with an object’s ability to please our senses and awake our emotions that the garden ornament is at its full potential. If it welcomes us into the garden, and makes us feel at home then it is in full power to take root.
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