Are you tired of gardening in the summer heat? Do you need a dose of color or interest in the landscape to last you through the winter and beyond? Do you want to express your creativity in the yard? Garden art can be the answer to all of these questions. There’s no better way to enhance your landscape.
Whether adding individual items or a themed grouping in the yard, art additions are a wonderful way to make a statement and add interest outside of trees, shrubbery, perennials, and annual flowers. You can purchase stock pieces or customize your garden art by either making your own or commissioning a single unique piece, such as the large dovecote I commissioned from England that 
now lives in my backyard. Express your unique style by adding art elements like garden benches, birdhouses, brightly painted furniture, colorful pots, or rocks. Other ideas include strategically placed weeping or colorful plants, as well as fountains, gazing balls, and sculptures. Use these art pieces in unique places and in creative ways, like to soften a hard angle or turn in a pathway. Larger objects can serve as focal points that can be seen from a distance, while smaller art can accent a garden nook.
Art objects can be focused around a theme, such as a collection that expresses a homeowner’s interests, or they can be added based on color or to attain a certain feeling. Whimsical sculptures are an example of “feel good” garden art and can be added in the form of colorfully painted metal animal objects, topiaries snipped from evergreen perennials, carefully placed stepping stones that make a picture on the garden floor, or hanging creations that float from tree limbs. Here’s where you can let your creativity shine and design a piece that works uniquely with the existing plants.
Ultimately, garden art should enhance or complement the current landscape, not replace or compete with it. Choosing the appropriate size, color, and material will go a long way toward achieving the feel you want in that section of outdoor living space. Just like art inside the home, art in the garden needs to be thoughtful, well-placed, and not overwhelming in size or number of items.
DAVID PAYNE is owner of HOME & GARDEN LANDSCAPES and can be reached at 919-801-0211 or HOMEANDGARDENLANDSCAPES.COM.