Benches, Statuary and Birdfeeders: Garden Accents with Personality

Benches, Statuary and Birdfeeders: Garden Accents with Personality

Of course, you know that a garden requires trees, shrubs, flowers, sun, shade, water and fertilizer. But did you realize that to achieve its maximum potential as a place of enjoyment and repose, your garden also needs accents that express personality?

Regardless of whether your preference is for a formal rose garden, an English cottage garden, a raised bed vegetable garden, a woodland garden, a cactus garden, French formal garden or Japanese landscape, garden accents can help you express your landscaping preferences with style and class.

Benches, tables, statues, birdbaths, sundials, birdfeeders and other garden ?hardscape? elements provide you with seating and additional visuals that complement the plants you have chosen to grow. When considering which elements will best complement your garden, answer the following questions to help determine the best accessories for you:

Are you formal or informal? People who prefer formal settings naturally gravitate to plants that can be shaped into topiary or kept neatly trimmed to good advantage. Those who prefer informality go more for plants that climb and branch out.

Are you country or city? Folks who love a country look like cottage and naturalized woodland landscapes, while city types are more likely to choose dramatic ornamentals such as bird of paradise. Log cabin birdhouses would be a fun addition, as well as country furniture made of bent willow. For the city, stick to the refinement of teak and tall, sleek fountains and statuary.

Do you like classical music or country best? Classical music lovers are more likely to prefer classical garden statuary, while pop and country music lovers go more for rustic accessories such as iron birdfeeders, wooden trellises and Adirondack chairs.

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Garden Tip...

The proper time for trimming hedges of all kinds is in mid-summer, after the shrubs have made a thrifty growth; we would advise an annual pruning in order to have the hedge looking finely.

It is a bad plan to allow a hedge of any kind, especially an evergreen one, to run a number of years without trimming. If a hedge is neglected so long, and then severely pruned, it will look stubby and shabby for a year or two after. With a pair of sharp hedge-shears, a person having a straight eye will make a good job of the trimming every time.
~ James Sheehan
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Is an English cottage garden packed with flowers of all sixes and colors your dream landscape? Then consider adding a sundial to count the hours and a wooden bench with wrought iron supports, perhaps a classic iron table with traditional floral patterns and a couple of matching chairs.

Is formal French your bag? Go for a classical statue, the older looking the better; hang a copper birdhouse and add pairs of curving stone benches to set off your neatly trimmed hedges and stylishly balanced perennial beds.

Do you love roses more than any other plants? You?ll love a sundial or armillary set smack in the middle of your roses, and a wooden bench with a high back where you can sit and enjoy the glorious sight and scent of your favorite flowers.

Really, what choosing the best garden accessories comes down to is choosing what you like best from the hundreds of benches, statuary, planters, bird feeders and other garden accessories on the market today. After all, it?s your garden?so always buy what makes you happy!
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Garden Tip...

Seeds that are exceptionally fine, like those of Lobelias, Petunias, Ferns, and other very tiny seeds, ought never to be covered deeper than the sixteenth of an inch, with very fine soil sifted on them through a fine sieve; the soil should then be lightly patted down with the back of a shovel. This will prevent the seeds from shriveling before they start to germinate.
~ James Sheehan
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