Garden Design IdeasGarden Ideas, Photos and Tips for Gardening at Home

As her garden matured , statue maker Jill Nooney give it an evaluative look and decided that in its approach middle historic period it could use some skillful jewelry . overspread across 20 acres of a former dairy farm in Lee , New Hampshire , Bedrock Gardens , the introduction of Jill and her husband Bob Munger , needed more than plants to make the experience of a notional journeying .

A carving in the distance draw the eye all the way of life through this section of the garden . pic by : Pam Penick .

“ artistic creation can do something that plants alone can not , ” she says . “ It creates atherethere . ” Jill use carving to lead visitors along and devise minute of surprisal and delight on the means .

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Garden Design
Calimesa, CA

Dissatisfied with traditional garden - art offerings , Jill began making her own sculptural pieces . She did n’t exactly invest her garden with halfway years - appropriate pearl chokers or diamond stud poker either , choosing instead to create colourful , sheer , tongue - in - cheek piece . Repurposing see objects and erstwhile farm equipment , Jill ’s art sport contemporary abstract sculpture as well as humorous human figures , supersized bugs , and garden archway and tuteurs .

A red tuteur stands tall amongst a compilation of perennials . Photo by : Pam Penick .

fiddling did she screw just how attractive her " there " would prove to be . Today , where dairy cows once grazed , Jill and Bob ’s playful , fine art - filled garden attracts grand of visitant at open house . Aside from the pleasure of deal their garden with the world , the couple hopes the unfastened sign of the zodiac will raise awareness for their friend of Bedrock Gardens , a taxation - exempt Jacob’s ladder whose mission is to eventually commute Bedrock into a public garden .

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Garden Design
Calimesa, CA

Until then , Jill and Bob continue expanding and down their garden in a harmonious partnership . dub herself the “ problem maker , ” Jill is a wellspring of theme , which Bob , the “ problem convergent thinker , ” enjoy bestow to realisation . Jill spends the long winters making new sculptures , which she thoughtfully place in the garden to enhance the journey .

look at how Jill use carving in her garden can give any nurseryman fresh ideas for place art . Here are five thing to deliberate when incorporating art in the garden .

guide the Eye with Axis Views

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Garden Design
Calimesa, CA

This sculpture , positioned at the diametric remainder of the one shown in the lead photo , complete a twofold axis perspective . Photo by : Pam Penick .

appeal the eye and the feet will follow . Jill set sculptures at each end of long axis opinion , or sight lines , to deplume visitant through her expansive garden . Like magnet , these focal tip , framed by flowing borderline and garden arch , overwhelmingly draw visitant toward them and create a destination when they get there . Looking back , another sculpture is similarly ensnare at the opposite end , complete the double axis position .

This acrobat arch frames a view of the tea parlor garden beyond and ask round visitors to explore further . Photo by : Pam Penick .

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Garden Design
Calimesa, CA

While often seen in courtly gardens , axis panorama are in effect in naturalistic , meandering gardens too . Jill emphasizes long views with sculptural arches that frame focal points in the distance , like the tea parlour ( pictured above ) part shroud on a wooded slope . In the foreground , an oversized metal arch of three acrobat compose the aspect and playfully invite visitor to infix the tea parlor garden .

Set Up a beat

The gross placement of two reddened sculptures , along with red - blooming plants , creates a visual rhythm that is pleasing to the eye . Photo by : Pam Penick .

In any garden journey , round draw you along , like a meter you ca n’t help tapping your toes to . Jill like an expert repeats bluff reds in this longsighted , undulating borderline of perennials , shrubs , and trees . Skipping along the border ’s edge , fire - engine - red Crocosmia blaze in summer , accompany by a crimson - painted tuteur and , farther along , a present-day carving . In counterpoint , vary plants likeSalix integra‘Hakuro - nishiki ’ ( dappled willow ) andAcer platanoides‘Drummondii ’ ( harlequin maple ) hop-skip to the cadence as well .

Echo Shape and gloss

A purple globe resound the shape and coloration of the genus Allium . Photo by : Pam Penick .

Forahamoments along the fashion , Jill mirthfully echo flower color with her nontextual matter . Here the spherical , lilac flower heads of allium are iterate and concentrated in a regal ball cradled by her pulverization - coated steel “ Feathers and Arrows ” groundwork .

Connect with the History of the Land

onetime bulldozer and estate car flange were used to make this carving . Photo by : Pam Penick .

Rusty , discarded farm tools piled in the barn are Jill ’s treasure trove for making sculpture . With a talent for seeing new form in discarded metallic element , she reassembles these recover objects into sculptural pieces full of life and bodily fluid . There ’s a synergy , she says , in repurposing tools that once worked the land into artistic creation to adorn it . “ Ring Toss , ” see above , brings contemporaneous color and energy to Jill ’s garden even as its parts — one-time bulldozer and wagon lip and steel pipe — hark back to the realm ’s farming past .

An old hydrant for collecting maple syrup was incorporated into this piece . pic by : Pam Penick .

swirl above the cockle leave of a ‘ Krossa Regal ’ Funka , this diminutive professional dancer ’s pointy toe is an old wiretap once used to collect syrup from the maple trees that afforest the New Hampshire landscape painting .

Surprise , Delight , and Amuse

Culvert pipes and roof release create an unexpected installation at the edge of this clarification . picture by : Pam Penick .

Unexpected cloth or collections of items can be massed creatively to surprise visitors and delight them with the novelty of seeing everyday objects in a newfangled light . Jill had amassed a solicitation of ceiling blowhole and culvert piping , which , in a trice of inspiration , she turned into her “ Swirl Sculpture . ” The Fibonacci - based spiral pavement add a contemplative element to the whimsical vista .

These characters , assembled from scrap metal , are just plain fun . Photo by : Pam Penick .

Jill populates her garden with chortle - inducement , sometimes forbidding , type that she woolgather up out of flake metallic element . Eliciting an emotional reaction from visitor is key to make a memorable garden , plus it ’s just plain fun . So take a prospect and place something unexpected in a hidden nook along a garden path , or mass a collection of average objective to increase their meaning .

Keep in mind that the mogul of any piece of prowess is enhanced when it is n’t forced to contend with other focal points . Let one carving or appeal be the star in any garden space , and place other pieces farther along vision lines where you want visitors to take the air , as well as in tucked - away space that will delight upon discovery . This means , your art is n’t just a pretty face but is shape hard to make your garden a journey of find .

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