Here are 10 ways to transform any garden into a place of interest: Attract Wildlife Who doesn't love to see birds and butterflies visit their garden? Try to mimic the natural landscape within your garden and you will have lots of little visitors that will delight the senses. Add a Secret Area An area that is not immediately visible to the eye when viewing a garden can prove a delightful surprise for visitors. Clever design can hide the entrance, i.e. camouflaging, illusion of depth. Add a Garden Pond A garden pond is virtually guaranteed to spark interest from all. Also if installed correctly little maintenance is required. Combine with a waterfall feature for extra novelty. Add Garden Junk Everyday objects can be used to create artistic and unique garden junk that will definitely make heads turn i.e. bowling balls, scrap metal, clay pots, anything really. Prepare to get messy and creative! Add a Focal Point Direct eyes to an area in your garden using a focal point. Try using simple additions like a birdbath or a large pot or add lighting to bring attention to an otherwise plain object. Plant with Colours that Complement Nobody likes to see a garden with one colour. On the flip side no-one wants their eyes to hurt when looking at a garden! So design your planting areas to contain plants whose colours complement each other. A colour chart will come in handy here. Use Height Effectively Adding plant sizes of various heights to your garden will entertain the eye. Add a peak here and there with a tree, go mid-size with a few shrubs and finally add some groundcovers to cater for the low points. Add a Patio Need some where to sit out on and view the fruits of your gardening labour? Look no further than a patio. It serves as the meeting place between your garden and your home. Make it a bit more of a mixture with a spot of patio gardening. Plant for Scent Scents can add a new dimension to your garden. Some plants give off a scent when brushed against and some give off scents as their flowers open. The sense of smell is said to be the best for memory recall so scents in your garden make sure that visitors remember it long after they visit. Add a Garden Gnome (or Two) A slightly controversial point seeing as though gnomes are viewed as tacky in some circles. But I say go for it, pick out a few entertaining gnomes and place them strategically around your garden. They may just lend a hand sometime.
Excellent advice. I admit to being a gnome snob but have been rehabilitated by this forum. Embrace the gnome! (not literally, of course) 8)
Great listing - I am still waiting for that 'perfect gnome' to come along who will be granted admittance to the garden, along with the frog and the brass rabbit.
An interesting garden Hi Frank, I have all of your tips in my garden, I love to attract wild life. My garden is quite small but very full. I have a pile of logs to attract various insects, a small pond which has newts in, a secret area which is nearly invisible from the window, Lots of colour with the fox gloves, lupins, delphiniums, aquilegia, numerous poppys, lots of wild flowers shrubs and trees. not got any height,plenty of scent and unfortunatly no colourful Gnomes, just grey ones.
Great suggestions!!!! :-D I have mixed feelings about the gnomes....I saw something called Garden Grots that were a bit more intriguing...they look a little dangerous and menacing, they'd scare the pants off of any self respecting garden gnome. I think if the right gnome came along I MIGHT buy him. I've been looking at some of those Mary Cicely Barker fairies lately....I know I'll be breaking down and buying a few.... http://www.efildoog-nz.com/hypertufa.htm
