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Garden Ornaments

© Keith Muraoka

We've all heard of garden ornaments. These can range from the cheap pink plastic flamingoes to expensive, bronze sculptures that are true pieces of art.

I have several ornaments dotting my garden - from an old sundial to a dog made of steel that appears to be chasing a bone that hangs in front of it. A friend recently spent big bucks in buying a "frog prince" sculpture.

And I don't know if you remember this story that I covered in a past column, but a woman in Rhode Island actually owes her life to her garden statuary! It's true. Bessie Weidle was saved by a painted-cement reindeer that stood 4-feet high in her garden. The reindeer ended up wedged beneath an errant car and her bed! The reindeer provided just enough space so Bessie wasn't crushed when the car careened through her house and into her bedroom where she was sleeping.

Of course, not all garden ornaments can save your life, but they're still fun. It's just as much fun hunting for just the right one to fit you and your garden's personality, too. Choosing the right ornament is really a matter of building unity in the garden. Ornaments usually work best when they're part of the overall plan, and when they harmonize and unify a garden.

There are two trains of thought when it comes to placing ornaments. You can use ornaments as an "accent" to your garden or as a "grace note."

Accents are usually large, important ornaments that become focal points in your garden. When placed at the end of an axis or in the middle of a clearing against a contrasting backdrop, they demand attention. My sundial is just such an accent. I have it sitting in the center of a flower bed where no one can miss it.

Grace notes are smaller ornaments. You can tuck them into beds or shrubbery that repeat their color, texture or form. They become little surprises that are discovered as one walks through the garden.

An example of a grace note I've seen is a worn, wooden birdhouses sitting atop an equally worn wooden fence. Neither one detracts from the other. Both repeat form, texture and color, which ties them to their surroundings. My little doggy ornament is a grace note in that it is tucked within the garden.

A little off the subject, but somewhat related is "boulderism." This is the placement of large rocks and boulders within the garden. I'm sure all of you have seen them, often within

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