Anyone in here into yard art? If so, what do you have?

Dotsie,
I've got yard junk- a gargolye that sticks his tongue out, a metal flying pig that's a wind chime, 2 other pigs, a laughing elf lady, a bird bath and stepping stones the grandkids decorated with their handprints{one little butt print- but we won't go there} And bells- rain bells. My garden is a kitty jungle so it probably has legless grasshoppers and dead vole decorating bushes too

I am waiting to redo my yard nxt year!

We currently have a pink flamingo in one potted plant & a snail in another........plus a "welcome" sign hanging.......

There is a house around the corner that is covered in knomes....I burst out laughing when I saw it! I drove past that house hundreds of times but never noticed it!!!

I love yard art...gargoyles, flamingos, gnomes, elves, and especially stepping stones with tiny butt prints on them would so delight me! But we live in a big housing development with dozens of small children playing around here all the time. We've already caught some curious ones poking around our backyard (and still have fermenting grape juice stains spattered all over our back door, but that's another story), so we've learned not to keep anything dangerous or more tempting than cucumbers and flowers in our yard.

But I take great delight in looking at other people's yard art, and in imagining what I would put out there if it was possible...

[ September 05, 2005, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]

I have tons of white gravel and two 15 feet high and as wide around as a car, Oleander bushes. I have a hand painted bird bath and my two babies(dogs)are buried out there. Large concrete block fence circles the entire back yard. Oh and I almost forgot my wind chimes.

We can't wait till we are able to redo the entire yard!!! I had my dream come true when they tore out all the bushes in the front yard during our remodel!!! LOL!

I want to do something simple in front.....w/ afew little dodads. The side of the house I want to put a path of white rocks & flowers along the front of the fence.

The backyard I just need to get my grass to come back to life!!! The landscaper fertilized & it's nothing buy crab grass & weeds!!! Everyone who uses him is FUMING!!!!!!!! We also need to patch up puppy holes

If our new neighbors are nice...I will make the backyad nice!! LOL!! The ones who are moving got all huffy when we put up a HUGE SHED & told us their garden wouldn't grow!!! In their for sale ad it listed that their yard was PROFESSIONALY LANSCAPED. Um....yeah...right...& you cut the bushes when? 2 years ago?!!!

I haven't had time to take care of our yard the past few years because of my mom/grandmother. I was working in their yard first....now I will be able to do all sorts of pretty stuff!! And make it my own

Small creek in our back yard, & for the past several years, beavers.
You would not believe the dam they have put together.
What damage these guys can do, and overnight in most cases.
Every tree, shrub you name it, has wire wrapped around, 4 ft. tall. Otherwise they just chew over the top, (last wire was 2ft. tall).
Last couple of years the local paper has been out and interviewed all of us, we were hoping the county might help....not. Hired a couple of trappers, (several times) only 1 beaver was caught. One out of countless, go figure.
Strict laws concerning the well-being of our furry little pests.
Neighbor two doors down, was taking the garbage out thru her garage last year. Soda can fell from her shelf, reached down picked the can up, then noticed the copperhead staring her, from the shelf. YIKES ! ! !
Same day her hubby, blew that beaven dam up.
Water gets high and the snakes come out. Really...really hate snakes!!!
Beavers, rebuild so fast it's not even funny.
Virginia has really beautiful trees, just wish all of mine wasn't covered in chicken wire.


Brenda

We have deer and wild turkey that walk along a trail above our back yard. They're wonderful.

Can't have a bird bath or it would double for a cat feeder. I have a ton of roses, hydrangea, and wysteria. So fragrant in the spring.

The deer were munching on my front landscaping so I sprayed deer repelant on everything...or I thought it was. Turns out I picked up the wrong container and had sprayed them with Round Up.

Brenda, what a great story. I have seen beaver dams on the property our church owns. They can really do damage. We have a Bible Camp on this property every summer. One of the favorite activities is stream walking. One year we couldn't do it because the dam caused the water to be way too deep for the little kids.

Dianne, read those labels! What a mistake. Did you kill everything?

Yard art- the reason I asked is because recently we were the brunt of a practical joke. My husband once shared with his mom that her liked lighthouses. Since then Ross was the luck recipient of all gifts "lighthouse". He got some doozies too. Some of the pictures and coasters weren't bad, but then my sister-in-law/brother-in-law got in on the action because they new Ross didn't really love, nor want all that lighthouse stuff. They thought it was funny so he started receiving cookie jars, lamps, sweatshirts, etc. All either shaped like lighthouses, or stamped with lighthouses.

This became a big family joke. Ross finally told his mom that he liked lighthouses, but enough already. Meantime, sis and bro couldn't stop the gag gift giving.

Ross turned 50 the day his mom went in the hospital. She died the next morning. Ross knew she still had one gift to give him, but he didn't know what it was.

Later that week while being out to dinner with all the family members, we arrived home to find an eight foot lighthouse in our yard surrounded by rocks on the bottom and a very tacky light rotating the yard.

BIL and SIL were hiding in the yard to hear our reaction. It was absolutely hysterical. The gift was from his Mom too. BIL and SIL shared with her what they were doing, and she said she wanted in on it. The plan was for them to all place it on our yard the night of Ross' 50th birthday, but that's the night she became sick and died.

So needless to say, we have a lovely piece of yard art gracing our back yard. Well, at least until yesterday. We put it in the shed because we're having a shower here next week. The plan is to get it out every year on Ross's birthday in memory of his mom.

My yard art consists of pots of flowers, a bird bath and a couple stepping stones in the garden. I'm a plain jane.

What a beautiful story. Bittersweet. This would make a wonderful chapter in a book.

Yep Dotsie, pretty much killed everything. Expensive mistake and I was too embarrassed to tell the landscape guy what happened so I just pretended I didn't know why everything died.

Dianne, I guess he figured it was weather related. What a hoot.

Dianne, I'm sorry about your mistake.

And Dotsie that is a great story and a great idea about bringing it out every year!

We are redoing our yard and I'm looking for ideas about yard art. the only thing I know that I really want is one of those gazing balls.

I've only begun to work on my yard, but the thing I want the most is a fountain. I like the ones that have a boulder with the water coming out of the top.

My house is dark brown stained cedar and my lighting is copper. I want to go with a copper theme in the front, maybe with large copper pots for some plants, etc.

Daisygirl

That sounds so pretty Daisygirl and with the beautiful color of alot of the perrenials, oranges, gold and yellows even reds wth the greenery it should look fantastic...I am looking for someone to remove my huge Oleander bushes and put in Lavendar bushes instead. The Oleanders are too big and hard to control and they attract wasps of which I am allergic to bad too, they smell so nice and never need watering to grow lush and full of blossoms....

Lavender will attract bees, Chatty. I have a ton of them so I always have a ton of bees too.

We are buying a fire pit for our yard this week. My son and his friends like hanging out here on some weekend nights. He asked if we could buy one. Our immediate answer was "yes". We'll do anything to keep them around and safe.

I'm looking forward to picking one out and finding the perfect spot to include comfy chairs to place around it.

Anyone have a fire pit?

Chatty, I know all about bees. Be careful! I was clipping this weekend and all of the sudden it felt like someone had thrown a dart at my neck. Crazy! I never saw the thing coming. It must have been a yellow jacket. I'm still itching a little and have a teeny welt.

TVC, are you planting any gardens?

Daisy, Your home sounds lovely. I like that combination.

Oh I'd like to have a pit fire also. I'm with you about keeping the kids home also. The other childrens parents will appreciate it also. It's always nice to know where they are hanging out when they aren't home.

Yes, we are planning alot of gardens around the yard. I've got 3/4 of an acre to fill up. I'm planning a formal herb garden just outside my backdoor. I'm just waiting for the fence to go up before I get started on that. that's where I want to put the gazing ball.

And I want a real rose garden too! All red! I'm planning to put that along the side fence, after the shed goes up.

We also want to plant a few fruit trees in the back. I've already got several fig trees in the front.

I have a small veggie garden this year but next year I'm hoping to expand that.

Everything is waiting for something else to be finished before I can get started.

Right now we are concentrating on the front lawn. In about three or four years, I'll let you know how it all turns out.

TVC15, that sounds like such a lovely oasis! What a wonderful sanctuary it will be when it's finished.

I have a good friend, actually my "twin" brother (we're not really related but have called ourselves twins since the very first day we met in high school); he lives in North Carolina too and is always telling me about all the wonderful fruit trees and other stuff he can grow in his garden there. Sounds like a little touch of paradise to me!

Dotsie, you're such a good mom. You inspire me to do better.

We had a fire pit once and the kids loved it and so did the adults. Great on a cool autumn night.

Oops, so much for the Lavendar, thanks for that info. I guess it'll be Merrigolds then, all animals and bugs hate those flowering plants. I use to plant them in rows between the vegetables in my garden to keep the critters and bugs away and it works too....Maybe I can locate some creeping ground cover that will be pretty and not attract bees, wasps or hornets.

Eagle,
The only problem with NC is that everything grows big here, especially the weeds!

We had a firepit in the back yard and even used it in the winter. All bound in snowsuits and blankets, we sat around the wood fire and roasted wieners and marshmallows on Friday nights. I used some old bricks to build it. I wanted my grand daughter to enjoy her visits with us and our extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. We'd sing songs, make wishes on falling stars, and have lots of fun. It was when she got to stay up late at our house. She remembers it well...
chick

chick, you're giving me lots of great ideas. Thanks. We just got our fire pit last week. It's been too warm to use it.

What a thoughtful and fun grandmother you are!

This thread is about 2 years old....but would love to update and continue it! I love yard art and wonder what everyone here has. Photos would be nice, too. Join in with what you have or would LIKE to have eventually! Maybe we can get some ideas from one another.

Oh fun fun! Gonna run out and take some pictures. You too Jane!

Oh goody....I'm waiting! My photos may have to come when I'm done with the Spring set up. Today is a sopping wet, rainy day (much needed rain!) My perennials are just beginning to pop up. What I want to create this year is a backyard tiki bar

We have tiki torches on the deck.

Solar ones, that is. They are so cool and real looking.

Sounds nice, Louisa...I have the cheap flaming ones around our little hot tub! I'll have to check out the solar ones. I also got into rock painting but only a little and as a beginner so there are a few little things in a flower garden.

Yesterday I ran around the garden like a newspaper reporter and photographed all our "kitch".. ahem art. I didn't realize we had so much. Most of it we bought on our travels. From the drift wood from Maine to the beautiful Chimes in Vancouver...it's all around us. The colourful tile we purchased in the Canary Islands, and the ceramic vase in Spain. The deer are made in Germany, and the old hut is our garden storage shack; that's just about more important than the house!

Louisa please post a picture of your torches!

Ladyjane you have a hot tub?! We just love ours, and go in it just about every day all year round.

Here is a little slide show of our garden art. Just copy it and google it.
http://www.immobilien-schwarz.de/gartenkunst.html

We have such a teeny-tiny backyard, which is very frustrating for someone who adores yard art! Still, I've managed to inject some personality into the space. We kept one of the old wooden loungers that my Dad built and use it to hold a fairly large flower planter. Then we bought a little water fountain in memory of Gary, and put that beside the lounger, and a shepherd's hook behind the lounger, which holds a hanging basket of flowers in the summer. That's all we could fit in there, but it's a very soothing, pretty sight to look out at from my chair in the living room.

Edelweiss, I checked out your slide-show...oh, what a delightful lovely oasis! Every little piece of art adds so much to the serentiy; it would be my favourite place to sit and "be"...to pray, or read a good book or just soak in the tranquility.

Thank you for sharing, I really enjoyed my "visit" to your garden! Wish we could share a cup of tea (and apple strudel?) there...

Eagle, love the idea of using the chair as a planter. It looks beautiful.

Everyone must view Elelwiess's slide show. The music is so much fun and the photos are precious. I love your shed with the angel and the window boxes. Also like your little pond. Girl, you must live in that yard. It's so welcoming! Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

I've just begun to get into yard art the past couple years. Maybe this is the time I'll take pictures and share them.

What a neat slide show. Thanks for putting this together Edelweiss. Did you need special software?

Eagle, I love that idea of using a lounger as a flower planter. And I love the water fountain. We have a bubble fountain in our little pond. When the wind blows it makes awesome shapes. Oh yes Eagle, warm appelstrudel with vanilla cream sauce. ..
hmmm if you come visit I promise to bake you and your Hubby your very own Apfelstrudel. And I promise that we won't have to move for at least three hours after eating it.

I got to give Hubby the credit for our garden. It’s his hobby. His real pride is our lawn. I think he could compete in an English lawn contest. I hope you can share pictures too Dotsie. I would love to see your Cherry trees.

Meredith I used this slide show for my homepage as well. But I’m having problems with the music. When it repeats it get jumbled up. My computer guru will be here next week, and can hopefully straighten it out. You can download the slide show for a low cost at:

http://bmsev.com/software/web-diashow/

If you have problems figuring it out, let me know. But maybe he has a translator program.

I absolutely love the slide show, EW and EH, love the lounger planter....such a sweet idea! Wow, I just got lost in it all. It's a little early here. We're barely beginning to do things outside. One thing we have done is last weekend we put in two little flower gardens near the entrance of our driveway. We've so enjoyed coming and going now...very pleasant! Great ideas, everyone!

I am not into yard art..YET. But I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. And I do love looking at other people´s yard art when I go for my walks.We had a local artist in the neighborhood, who has moved now, unfortunately. But every year..at the end of the summer, he would put something up in his garden. His last piece was a boat..the Pinto..made out of slabs of stone..even the sail was a stone slab. It was amazing. And it´s name made me think of the Pinto and the Santa Maria..were these the names of Columbus´ ships when he sailed to the New World?

Unfortunately, I was (well, WE were) too eager for Spring. We had temps in the 80's a week ago....we got so excited that we planted two small gardens at the driveway entrance...worked hard and planted with love. Today we find that frost killed every one of them and we're sad....and I'm feeling dumb because I KNEW better! It's rarely safe here this early and we should have held off a month or so.

Oh, Ladyjane, we did that a few years ago...same thing. The Garden Centers were all open, and everything looked so beautiful, and we had been having such gorgeous weather. So we bought, planted, even covered them a few nights. But we still lost the whole batch to frost. Now we wait until the May 24th weekend.

Even today, we passed by the Garden Ctr and I saw the hanging baskets full of colourful blooms - I had to exercise incredible restraint to stop myself from buying anything.

My condolences, Ladyjane, I know that sadness...

I know Eagle Heart, how disappointing it is!!! It was the very same thing with us. We would drive by the nurseries and they were filled with beautiful flowers and plants, all outside. The only thing I can come up with is that we put in such a horrible winter and then it turned into summer right away. We just got so eager for these things that hubby came home with his truck full of these beauties. Never again. From now on we WILL wait for the fear of frost to pass!

The rule of thumb here is to wait until after Mother's Day to plant. I ususally don't wait. However, I've only planted one annual so far this year. I hope to get around to it this weekend.

Last night after work I went out to unearth my poor dead flowers. They're loaded into hubby's car trunk to be taken back. Lowe's will give full credit for them, even though we should have known better. Funny the things one does after a traumatic winter!! We'll probably wait until around Memorial Day to plant the new ones.

Good for Lowes!!! Yes, this time wait to even buy the flowers until memorial day, then plant and sit back and watch for the beauty to unfold all year long.