A private garden is a dream come true. It is a place for relaxation, work, family reunions or your favorite seedlings. Therefore, you can arrange it for every taste and for any task. Worried it’s too expensive? Nonsense, because interesting and unusual garden decorations can be made with your own hands. In addition, no one else will have this!
Where to begin?
Of course, you can always invite a landscape designer to design the perfect garden. But what if you want to do everything with your own hands? After all, this is not only a pleasant result, but also an interesting experience.
First, decide on the style and purpose of the garden. No need to pile up details! Especially if the site is small.
Before designing, find out the type of soil and the depth of the groundwater. This will help not only with the choice of vegetation, but also with an understanding of what structures can be installed. Especially if you are planning gazebos, pergolas or hedges.
You can use 3D modeling software if you want a more visual result.
Style
Having decided on the main functional elements, it's time to move on to style.
A classic garden is an abundance of flowers, straight lines and corners, a minimum of decor. Materials imitate natural ones. The focus here is on the plants, not the decorations.
The parterre garden is reminiscent of 16th century Italian and French flower gardens. Here flower beds are folded into fancy ornaments, light decor, colored sand and gravel are used.
The rustic style is deliberately simple, ideal for a summer residence. Ladders, paths, careless old-fashioned decorations and a motley mess of decoration are appropriate here.
Themed gardens are the most interesting to decorate. This includes eastern, Scandinavian, Moorish and other destinations. And also - funny and entertaining thematic corners dedicated to your favorite works, cartoons or movies. Pay attention to this option if you are planning to install a playground.
Functional decor
All garden decorations can be divided into exclusively decorative and functional. Functional ones include fences, barriers, paths, gazebos, fountains, pergolas and other pleasant things. Many of them can also be made by hand.
Fences and fences
Fancy garden fences and fences do not have to be purchased ready-made. Especially now, on the wave of eco-trends. Lay out a curb of natural flat stones or fill a metal wire frame with crushed rubble.
Make a small wicker fence with dry twigs. Even ordinary vertical sticks can be set into interesting artistic compositions. Use wooden pegs and regular planks. Cut a sheet of plywood or the back of an unwanted cabinet.
Build an original fence from colored glass bottles: just plunge their neck into the soil. Or you can lay out complex radial structures from them, but then do not forget about strengthening the sides.
Arches and pergolas
Green arches and pergolas are much simpler than they seem at first glance. It is enough to put together a frame from ordinary wooden beams and choose the right plants for planting.
Fountains and reservoirs
It is quite difficult to make a full-fledged fountain or an artificial reservoir. But if you still have unnecessary plastic or acrylic bathtubs, bowls and other containers, you can safely use them when decorating a small oasis.
And if you know how to work with a pumping system that ensures constant circulation of water, then you can even assemble a country fountain yourself. Pots, bowls and trays are perfect as a base, you just need to properly seal the structure. Fountains made of stone steps look interesting, they immediately create a fabulous atmosphere in the garden.
Birdhouses and feeders
To fill the garden with joyful chirping, take care of the birdhouses. You can put together a birdhouse from any tree. Even from old wardrobes.
Feeders are even easier. Take cardboard boxes, old dishes, plastic bottles. You can decorate them at your discretion: paint them, cover them with a cord or tape, glue them with cones and leaves.
How about an old, dried pumpkin feeder? Don't limit yourself! After all, if something goes wrong, such little things can always be replaced and not worry about expenses and unsuccessful purchases.
Garden lighting
Classic street lights are not always appropriate in the garden. But you can even make graceful paper and pendant lanterns yourself.
Old New Year's garlands will also come in handy. They are especially impressive, they set off gazebos and swings at night.
Decorative decorations for the garden
To make garden decorations with your own hands, you will need the most unexpected and seemingly useless materials: old furniture, toys, bottles, tires, paints, sand, textiles and much more.
Plastic bottles
You can create anything you want from cut plastic bottles. These are palms, swans, peacocks, animals, Christmas trees and just fences. You will need cutting tools, glue, paints, wire and other fasteners. And from the remaining covers, lay out a mosaic pattern or assemble a fancy curtain from threads.
Papier mache
From old newspapers, magazines and PVA glue, you can create any shapes and details. They combine well with other materials. And so that the craft is not afraid of moisture, cover it with varnish.
Use old egg trays the same way. Crushed and mixed with glue and putty until smooth, they become an excellent plastic mass for sculpting. And just paint the finished product with facade paint.
Wire
Braided and openwork decorative elements can be created from ordinary metal wire. It is also used to link individual parts together, and even for movable joints of figures. The wire can be easily bent and cut with ordinary wire cutters.
Plywood
Even from the scraps of plywood left over from the renovation, almost any shape can be cut and painted. A jigsaw is enough. You don't even need any special experience: just use the stencils.
Pipes and Hoses
If plastic eggplants are an almost finished body of fantastic animals and birds, then the remains of pipes, hoses and insulation are excellent necks, paws, tails and fingers.
Stones and sand
Flat stones are a real godsend for a designer. They can lay out paths, surround flower beds, zone space. Draw on top funny animals, ladybirds, flowers, fruits - and the garden will sparkle with new cheerful colors.
Do you like naturalness and naturalness? Lay out unusual shapes and mosaics from stones. The finest hour has come for pebbles and shells, lovingly brought from the sea.
Colored gravel and sand are another interesting solution. In the same way, they can cover whole drawings and compositions. You can decorate the flower beds out of season. Or you can fill transparent decorative containers and arrange them around the site.
Tires
Tires are very versatile. Make a ready-made flower bed or a vertical flower pyramid out of them. Just paint, cover with soil and plant flowers.
Decorative figures are also cut out of them. Swans are the most common. An ordinary well-sharpened knife is enough for cutting, and a metal rod for fixing the neck.
They also make garden furniture from tires: tables, coasters, armchairs, garden chairs. And if you wrap them with intertwined ribbons or straps, such a set is in no way inferior to store "braids".
For the playground, you can make swings, bungees and other attractions. Rubber absorbs well, so some of them are even safer than wood and metal structures.
Pallets
Flower beds and furniture are made from pallets.Now such simple and laconic solutions are in vogue, so the finished products will ideally fit into modern minimalist landscape design. For example, in a Scandinavian style or a loft.
The same pallets can be used as frame elements to create gazebos, elevations, hedges.
What else?
When arranging a garden or a summer cottage, feel free to use everything. An old sofa makes a great bench under a canopy. And to breathe new life into it, cover it with waterproof fabric.
Kitchen tables and chairs come in handy for an outdoor dining area. And from old bedspreads and curtains you can sew pillows and covers to decorate them.
Mosaics and compositions of broken glass and mirrors look interesting. And in order not to cut yourself, you can fill everything with epoxy. The same compositions from old broken pots or earthenware will fit into more natural styles.
DIY garden decorations - photo
In this selection of photos, we have collected many interesting solutions for inspiration. Don't be afraid to experiment and don't limit your imagination!