Category: Garden Enhancements

If you have ever gone shopping for garden pots or planter boxes in your local garden center or home improvement store, then you know that they can get extremely expensive. Whether you are looking for a composite PVC box, a cedar or  wood planter box, or ceramic garden pots for your favorite flowers, you can quickly spend quite a lot of money without really getting what you want.

By going online, you will see that there are many more options available to you for both garden pots and planter boxes, and that you can find them in all shapes, sizes, materials, and colors, at almost any price point.

What Types Of Planter Boxes Are Available?

You might not know it, but planter boxes come in many different shapes and sizes. Most of us are used to seeing small planter boxes that will sit outside window, or larger ones that might line a driveway or walkway to a home. Planter boxes can be suitable for flowers, shrubs, trees, as well as fruits and vegetables, and even for desert plants such as cacti.

The first decision that you will need to make is the size and height of your planter box. Some planter boxes are designed to sit on the ground, with a small amount of clearance over the ground provided by legs. This will allow water to drip through the box and not create building beneath.

In addition to freestanding planter boxes, there are plant stands for indoor use, planter boxes that will hang outside of the window, and find boxes that have some kind of an attached trellis. These are usually designed to be used on the side of a home, where the vegetation growing and the planter box can make its way up the trellis, creating a beautiful effect.

How Can You Choose The Best Garden Pots?

When it comes to choosing garden pots, you may want to consider just how permanent of a fixture the pots will be in your yard. If you want something that is permanent or will not likely be moved very often, concrete planters are good choice. These require no maintenance, and they make taking care of plans easy.

Plastic garden pots are obviously the latest in weight, and are ideal for people who like to move their plans around or may not be staying in their home in the long term. Wooden planter boxes and garden pots are little heavier, but they are certainly much nicer than plastic or concrete pots in most instances.

What Materials Should You Choose?

There are several different types of plastic or vinyl materials available in garden pots and planter boxes, and one of the advantages of choosing plastic or vinyl is that these materials are often found in various colors. If you have always wanted to have bright white garden pots in your yard, then vinyl or plastic is certainly the best way to go.

The other hand, many people like planter boxes that are made from wood so that they appear more natural and blend in with the rest of the yard. What planter boxes can also be painted of course, though they often the best when they kept their natural color. You may want to weather-proof these pots and boxes to ensure that they last for years to come.

What Other Considerations Should You Keep In Mind?

Whether you are buying a single flowerpot or planter box, or you are looking at hanging planters, it is worth considering the kind of vegetation that will be planted and the amount of water that it will need. Plants that require a lot of water will usually be better served in a plastic or concrete planter, simply because you can water them regularly without worrying about doing damage to wood. If you want to stick with wooden planters, then make sure you choose high quality with such as cedar, redwood, or fir, all of which are usually suitable for most environments.

What Other Items Should You Consider For Your Garden?

What is most people begin shopping for garden pots and planter boxes, they begin looking at other items that can help to enhance their yard. These include wrought iron plant stands, window box planters, and herb planters. Once you get a feel for gardening, you may begin to look at racks or stands that will hold numerous smaller pots, since these often make seasonal gardening much easier.

In any case, there is little doubt that there are many options when it comes to finding the right planter boxes or pots for your garden, simply by shopping online. Whether you are looking for a traditional, wooden planter box or a modern looking concrete or colored plastic one, you will undoubtedly find numerous ones that fit your purpose.

Gardening can be an exciting adventure. There are several garden accents that you can add to your garden to enhance the experience that you have while visiting your garden.

Add garden gnomes

One of the several ways in which you can enhance your garden is to add several garden gnomes to accent your garden. Gnomes are cute little garden creatures that live among your plants and flowers. Gnomes come in all shapes and sizes and can grow their community within your garden. Many gardeners add gnomes to their flower beds to share in the experience of the flowers and plants. They tend to add more life to a garden community. The gnomes take on their own characteristics and share a different type of story and world of living among the garden plants. Gnomes can be miniature garden fairies that share their lives with the yard gnomes that decorate and create an extra special experience in your garden. They are an enjoyable addition to any garden.
 
When you are creating your garden it is important that you have the proper gardening tools and equipment to work in your garden. This includes having a proper garden shovel, garden hoe, and garden spades to dig into the dirt and plant those special, beautiful plants. Wearing proper garden gear will also help you to have an enjoyable experience while you create and grow your garden. Wearing a sun hat, and or a sun visor will assist you in keeping the sun out of your eyes. Many gardeners also wear a bandana around their necks to help keep the sweat from bothering them.  It is also important to cover up from the sun, so you do not get sun burn while working in your garden. Many gardeners wear large straw hats, or beach hats to keep the sun off of them.
 
You may also need to use pruning shears for some trees and plants, to keep your garden from over growing, and to keep looking neat and kept during the gardening season. You may also need a rake after you till the soil, and pull all the weed and roots out from the garden. This helps to keep the soil in good working condition for the plants to grow and the roots to grow deep and strong. Cultivating the soil can be hard work but it is important to keeping your plants healthy and strong. Remember when planting your seeds to also use a trowel to move the soil and create rows that are evenly apart to ensure your plants have plenty of space to grow. This ensures that your plants will be healthy and strong throughout the season.

Utilize Patio Furniture

 
Decorating and organizing your garden can be loads of fun. You can use patio furniture to create a peaceful space for you and loved ones to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of the garden. It can also be relaxing to rest after working in your garden with a fresh glass of lemonade. Many gardens are designed to decorate the backyard as an oasis from the world. Creating a decorative garden can be exciting, as you can use all kinds of materials.

Decorate with Lawn Art

 
Many people use metal lawn art to decorate their backyards. You can also use rustic garden décor to create a vintage atmosphere for your garden. Adding a whimsical feel to your garden can be creative if you use some Japanese inspired art to give it that Asian motif if that inspires you. Decorating your garden in the style and way in which you like is very important. Gardeners should be careful to take some special time to plan what type of feeling they would like to have when visiting their garden, so it is decorated with an inspiring theme.

Add Bird Feeders and Bird Baths

 
Some Gardeners enjoy adding bird feeders, and bird baths to their gardens. This invites birds to join in sharing their songs in your garden. Bird baths come in creative colors, themes, and motifs. Bird baths can also be solar heated to give our feather friends an extra special treat. Adding a window bird feeder brings delight to anyone’s backyard experience. Children love to look outside to the backyard and see the beautiful cardinals and blue jays enjoying their time at the bird feeder. Many children will even want to create their own homemade bird feeders, with pinecones, peanut butter and bird seed. This can be a creative science project for any child to learn about their environment and God’s creation. Some parents install ahummingbird feeder in their backyard gardens and share how to create the sugar water for the hummingbird feeder. It is a wonderful experience to share in the joy of showing how God’s creation can enjoy a lovely backyard garden. One thing many gardeners attempt to do is to create a way in which the bird feeder will be squirrel proof, since they have a tendency to steal all the bird food from the bird feeder. They also tend to scare all the birds away from your bird feeder if they get to it.
 

Install Birdhouses

Bird houses can be a creative addition to your backyard garden. They come in all shapes, sizes and styles. Many have a rustic look that can create an added feeling to your garden. Many birds are attracted to a garden that has built in bird houses. Children also love to create homemade bird houses that they can paint and create unique designs on them to attract different types of birds. Creating a one stop shop for our feathery friends, with a garden filled with bird houses, bird baths, and bird feeders, you will definitely have a garden filled with beautiful birds. This will create a wonderful garden experience that you and your children will enjoy. 

Lawn Gnomes and Garden Fairies can be as important to your outdoor ambiance as the flowers, trees and shrubbery that already make for a pleasant outdoor experience.
 
So when I think of lawn gnomes, I think of that commercial. I won’t mention it. Lawn gnomes resemble humans, are usually men, have pointy hats and don white beards. Gnomes have their origins in Germany.
 
Garden fairies conjure up a Tinkerbell image. They are mostly female, wear shear gown-like clothes, have wings, are generally barefoot and can have pointy ears.
 
Gnomes and fairies can be used in an abundance of ways to enhance yard ornaments, add character to your outdoor decorating ideas or be the unique garden décor you were missing.
 
A great way to enhance a lawn or garden’s bird bath is with a garden fairy. A fairy can be placed underneath the bird bath fountain or in a glass bird bath to present a classy look. You can also use a fairy to accent a hanging bird bath as a patio decorating idea. Gnomes can also be a fashionable addition to a bird bath. You placing your gnome next to the base of your ceramic bird bath on the patio. Gnomes can also be placed in concrete bird baths purely as décor with no water.
 
You can use garden fairies to create a fairy village with bird houses. If you are interested in the more do-it-yourself route, you can purchase bird house kits and/or gather bird house ideas from the world wide web and craft homemade bird houses. Using these methods makes for some unique bird houses. You can place some bird houses on the ground and some on limbs. You can create an entire scene of fairies moving in and out of the bird houses. Decorative birdhouses can be used as fairy houses and you can use painted bird houses for various shops in the fairy village. Making your own bird house means you can use various yard waste or recycled material. Your bird house could double as rustic outdoor décor by the time you’re finished. Of course there are many wonderful birdhouses you can purchase. Wooden birdhouses are the most popular. You can place fairies on top of or hang them from the perch of the bird house.
 
Let us not forget bird feeders. Getting a squirrel proof bird feeder might be top priority depending on where you live, how much you are invested in the birds survival and whether or not you have a cat. Again, you can go the homemade bird feeder route if you are feeling lucky. But if not, there are many great bird feeder options. If you purchase a window bird feeder, you have the luxury of seeing the birds up close and personal. Gnome or fairy decorations would need to be small and lightweight. To add variety and versatility you can use a bird feeder pole. This allows you to place the bird feeder almost anywhere in your yard you want. You can hang or place fairies about the pole. You can also place a trio of biker gnomes at the base as guardians. Beware squirrels.
 
When enhancing a garden or lawn with gnomes as an ornament, you can place the gnome in the front yard by the drive way, on a bench lounging in the flower bed or strategically by the bushes as a gatekeeper. A gnome can be used as a center piece for a patio table equipped with apron and barbeque fork. Gnomes can be used around the deck railing as guardians or ninjas. Mini gnomes are ideal for a Japanese garden w/ bonsai trees.
 
Since garden gnomes have a reputation of being pranked, creating funny garden gnome scenes would be ideal.  You can create a gnome garden scene such as revenge of the lawn gnomes in which the girl gnome falls head over heels for the gnome nerd after he vanquishes the garden trolls.  During Halloween, zombie lawn gnomes can break through your backyard gate and seize your young tricksters.  If you’re brave enough, you can position a University of Tennessee gnome in front of a University of Alabama gnome. Beware. One of those dudes will go missing.
 
 
You can create a gnome kingdom with lawn gnomes and garden fairies living in harmony. Is this how female gnomes come about? Gnomeo and Juliet are the rulers of the kingdom. There are only two stores: gnome gifts and gnome landscaping. Only mini gnomes work in the gnome gifts shop because of the gnomes with disabilities act.
 
Gardening tools used for placing and positioning gnomes in your garden vary widely, depending on the extent to which you want to gnome it up and the state of your lawn or garden.  Making a space for your garden gnome among your existing bed of flowers would generally require a garden spade or hoe and perhaps a rake.
 
If you are planning a full scale gnome village or if you have so many gnomes that you could put a gnomes for sale sign in your yard, I’d suggest breaking out the gardening knee pads, garden tool set and caddy.  If the area where you want to place the garden gnomes needs to be readied, you’ll need essential gardening tools such as a garden rake, spade, hoe and trowel. You may also need lawn edging tools and weeding tools.
 
Lawn Gnomes and Garden Fairies add to backyard décor, make for marvelous yard art ideas, create truly terrific outdoor accents and generate great garden ornaments. 

What Kind Of Garden Statue Do You Want?

 
The first question that you may want to ask is precisely what kind of garden statue you want. Some people are looking for statue is going to make a real statement in their yard, while others want something that is a little more understated, or simply represents something important to them.
 

Should You Consider Bronze Statues?

 
A bronze sculpture or statue can be a beautiful addition to a garden, and one that will obviously change in appearance over time. There are a variety of bronze statues and other outdoor items, such as sundials, planters, waterfalls, and large and small statues alike.
 
There are a few benefits to choosing a bronze statue, not least of which is that this is something that will certainly last a lifetime. A bronze statue will change over time as a result of oxidation, and many people believe that the way bronze changes is one of the benefits. Bronze statues are also going to be heavier, sturdier, and longer lasting than other metals.
 

What Options Are Available In Outdoor Sculpture?

 
There is an almost limitless number of statues that you can choose from for your yard, including many popular garden statues that you have probably seen in home improvement stores are garden centers. These include Buddha statues, angel statues, garden gnomes, and a variety of religious symbols. These can be a wonderful addition to any garden.
 

How Much Can You Spend On Garden Statues?

 
Whether you are looking at concrete statues, stone carvings, or your typical garden Buddha, the price range of these products is going to be fairly wide. It is possible to purchase extremely affordable garden statues online, often at a fraction of the price that you would pay locally. On the other hand, if you are more interested in a high quality, long-lasting statue for your yard, then you may want to go with the best possible construction, such as marble or bronze, and you should expect these to set you back quite a lot.
 
Of course, the overall prices of your yard statues, garden memorials, or garden urns are going to depend on the size, intricacy of the design, and originality. Some of these products are made overseas and sold in bulk, and you can often get better prices for these online than you could in a local store.
 

Are Garden Statues Still Popular?

 
 
Garden statues of all kinds have been popular all around the world for hundreds of years. Whether you are looking for small commemorative statue or a much larger centerpiece for your yard, you should have no problem finding just what you need here at Simply Love Gardening.

Having a fountain or waterfall in your yard is one of the best investments that you could make in your home, and one that will provide you and your family with peace and enjoyment for years to come. A home that has a garden fountain or some type of water structure in the yard will be worth more than a home without one, assuming that the fountain or waterfall is properly cared for over the years. Choosing the best outdoor water fountains can be difficult, so learning a little bit about the options may be a good way to create a good investment.
 

What Options Are Available?

 
When it comes to purchasing garden fountains, your first consideration should be how it is going to be powered. Most traditional fountains and waterfalls are powered by electricity, but if you do not have electricity available in a particular part of your yard, then it can be very expensive to install a water feature.
 
There is also the risk involved with mixing electricity and water, and so you will find that more and more outdoor water fountains are now being powered by very small solar panels. Not only can these help to save money on electricity, but they allow you to put a fountain or waterfall where you want, without any regard to access to electricity.
 

Should You Consider A Solar Water Fountain?

 
Solar fountains are becoming more popular these days, primarily because the cost of solar panels and solar setups in general has become a lot cheaper. At one time, solar devices were extremely expensive, but now they are very common and you can purchase a solar water fountain often for less money than an electric one. The fact that you can install it much quicker and without the need for an electrician makes it an even better choice.
 

Can Backyard Waterfalls Be Affordable?

 
In most instances, the biggest investment in an outdoor fountain or backyard waterfall will be when it comes to installing the feature into the ground. Depending on the kind of fountain or waterfall that you are looking at, you may require some assistance with installation, but there are standalone outdoor fountains and tabletop fountains that can be set up in a matter of minutes.
 
Backyard waterfalls that are built into existing landscaping can be a little more complicated to install, but they can add a lot of value to your home while attracting birds, butterflies, and more.
 

What Should You Keep In Mind When Buying A Fountain?

 
In addition to considering how a fountain or water fall will be powered, you may want to put some thought into the location, too. While some people really enjoy the sound of a fountain, you may not want it too close to a window or too close to a neighbor’s house. Also, putting a fountain, pond, or waterfall beneath a tree or some other type of foliage that loses its leaves can be troublesome and require you to do a lot more work than you are prepared to do.
 
Therefore, no matter what kind of water feature you are looking at, location is going to be very important not only as it relates to access to electricity and water, but the ease of upkeep and the amount of noise that it is going to create.
 

Do You Need A Timer?

 
Obviously, fountains can be turned off manually, but some homeowners like to have outdoor wall fountains or backyard water features that are managed by a timer. By installing a timer, you will be able to set the feature on a schedule that is suitable for your needs. In other words, you can have it running during the day when you are sitting outside on the patio, but turned the feature off at night when you do not want to be disturbed by the sound of water. A timer is also ideal if you plan on being away from your home for periods of time, as it can help to circulate the water to prevent problems related to stagnant water.
 
When you make your purchase, you should also consider that the price of upkeep will vary depending on the materials that you choose and the kind of pump and power system that is utilized. Make sure that you consider this upkeep price when you choose an outdoor water fountain for your yard.

What Are Arbors?

Most of us have walked into a yard and marveled at the beauty of an arbor that has been fully incorporated into a Garden. When roses or bougainvillea are climbing a wooden arbor, it can create a beautiful look in any garden. But, if you have gone looking for arbors at your local hardware or home improvement store, you will probably realize that the options are very few.

What Is A Garden Arbor?

Arbors are open, outdoor structures that are usually designed for people to walk through or sit under. Smaller arbors often act as an entryway to a garden, while much larger ones can create shade for people who are trying to stay out of the sun. The garden arbor can be any shape, though they tend to have some kind of arch at the top and to vertical segments that hold the structure up.

What Different Types Of Arbors Are Available?

Arbors are called garden arches in some parts of the country, while they are often referred to as wooden arbors or New England arbors. There are some slight differences between all of these, but what they tend to have in common is that they are made from pieces of wood that are spaced apart so that vegetation can grow into an on the structure, essentially becoming part of the arbor itself.

Many garden arbors are completely freestanding, while others may mount into the ground or attached to a fence. In addition, and arbor gate is often a nice way to create a decorative doorway to a yard or garden, and even offer a little bit of protection at the same time.

What Is A Pergola?

A pergola is a slightly different type of device that tends to be much larger and provides more shade than the basic arbor. You will find pergolas outside of restaurants, or attached to the back of homes, and they can also be freestanding as well. What sets the pergola apart from other garden structures is that it has a lattice design on the top which provides a certain amount of protection from the sun and the elements, but it is really the vines that can become intertwined with in the lattice that creates the shade.

Where Can You Buy A Modern Pergola?

Traditionally, pergolas were created out of local wood by hand, and would grow larger and more developed over time. Nowadays, people want a pergola that is fully developed and secure from the beginning, so making use of a pergola kit is often a better idea than trying to create one from scratch. Especially for people who were not particularly handy or do not have ready access to the wood and hardware that will be necessary, a kit for creating a modern pergola can be a real timesaver.

What Should You Consider When Looking At Garden Structures?

Before you invest in a vinyl or metal pergola, and arbor, a trellis plantar, or any kind of canopy or garden structure, it is worth considering how much usage the structure will get as well as the types of elements that it will be subjected to. In most cases, a pergola or arbor will be a permanent fixture in your yard, so it should be made from wood or other types of materials that will withstand the elements.

You can find patio gazebos, pergolas, and arbors in a variety of materials, including wood, plastic, metal, and vinyl. The choice you make will depend on your budget, the size of structure you are looking for, and how permanent you would like it to be. If you plan on living in your home for decades, then choosing a high-quality wooden arbor will enable you to really make an investment in your home that should last a long time.

Can You Build A Pergola or Arbor On Your Own?

If you happen to be particularly handy, then you may want to look into some of the kits that are available for building arbors, gazebos, and other outdoor structures. Pergola kits are very affordable, and they do not require a lot of work. In fact, the hardest part of putting up a pergola or an arbor is usually when you are working with the plants and trying to get them to be intertwined with the lattice. In fact, it can take several seasons before your plants begin to fully incorporate themselves into the structure.

Where Can You Find Quality Arbors Garden?

It is unlikely that you will find much of a variety of arbors or any other kind of outdoor structures in your local garden center, but you may be very surprised is a wide variety that is now available online. Whether you are looking for a backyard pergola, a simple rose arbor, or another type of decorative structure, there are many choices to be had online.