Gardeners Tips

I saw this lion at our local garden centre. He was guarding the entrance and looked the ferocious part. But there aere more interesting sculpture displays this summer 2019 in some bigger garden spaces. The Yorkshire sculpture park has a Damien Hirst outdoor sculpture at their current exhibition and Kew Garden is featuring Dale Cilhuli glass sculptures. Newby Hall in North Yorkshire has contemporary sculpture which showcases the best of British in a woodland setting.

Stone Sculpture Pros and Cons

• Natural stone looks good in the right place. It creates a better effect when local stone is used
• Stone looks good in the right place. It creates a better effect when local stone is used. Aim to achieve a material that is sympathetic to the area.
• Reconstituted stone looks good in the show room and for several seasons. For some reason it weathers more rapidly or looks less crisp a couple of winters later.
• Good stone that has been well carved can be very expensive
• Stone is heavy and not easy to move around or steal.
• Sculptures without natural sunlight get more moss and lichen than well lit well located sculptures.
• Good sculpture can provide both a talking point and a feature or focal point in your garden design.

Sculpture Comments

• Large scale sculptures work best in larger gardens. It is worth balancing scale as too small a sculpture can get lost from view.
• White or light stone sculptures should be set against a dark background
• Small sculptures can be mounted on a plinth for greater effect.
• Sculptures work well in pairs. Natural items work best in odd numbers
• Old and valuable stone items should be insured, bolted down or alarmed. Thieves will steal anything!
• A resin and composite stone sculpture like that below will cost significantly less than a stone sculpture.
• Cheaper sculptures tend to lose the sharpness of carving or molding.

Some flowers look best in groups or large swathes. These fields of cultivated Lavender demonstrate the point clearly. Imagine the scent from all these individual stems of flowers a heady experience. For commercial purposes growing in rows makes Lavender easier to mechanically crop and maintain.

Uses of Lavender include: dried-flower production, fresh flower displays,  fragrance, lotions, soap, oils and perfumes, edible flavoring, potpourris relaxation products and bath bags you can even make some pet products but for our purposes garden plants and small ornamental hedges are some of the prime uses.

Other pages with photographs worth viewing

British French and Spanish Lavender

8 Amazing Lavender farms

Woodbank Nursery in Harden W. Yorkshire has an interesting line in old garden equipment and mechanical ephemera. The various items are best seen over afternoon tea in the cafe where they complement the good healthy stock of plants. The exception is this lawnmower ‘recycled’ for the missus to use. The sign says ‘Does your wife cuts the lawn? If the answer is yes, why not spoil her rotten and buy her a ride on mower? You can even treat her again next year by adding some gears.’

Another feature of this nursery come retail destination is the stock of inanimate animals and the very animated ‘Elvis’ the shop parrot.

Every year Woodbank grows over 2 million plants on their 10 acres across an extensive range. Woodbank partners with the parent operation ACW in Bradford which has less space but quick through put sales of annuals, shrubs and trees.

You can trim your hedges and shrubs and / or trim up your garden with ornaments. No two gardens will ever be the same and your ‘trimming’ will help create your own unique style. I for one want more humour including Sherlock Gnomes and fertilising leaks and peas among my cabbages.

But remember loam wasn’t built in a day

Commonsense Garden Decoration

• Keep objects in proportion to the areas where they are on show – too small and you can’t see them properly – too large and they dominate
• Chose a style and stick too it – contemporary, classical, cottage, trad or what ever, a mix of styles is hard to pull off decoratively. Give an eleborate object a plain backdrop so it stands out.
• In a busy border opt for simple shapes to contrast with densely packed vegetation.
• Spheres, spirals, chimney pots, classic statues, tall oblique poles can all help create a focal point or focus of interest

Lighting and Illumination

• Spot lights can be softer than floodlighting
• Floodlights show off good decorative features but think about how shadows will fall
• Down-lighters can show a path
• Up-lighters on structures like pergolas can be effective.
• solar lights are improving but need charging in low light conditions
• Enjoy and use your creative instincts

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