DIY Garden Decor: 103 Ideas

A country house is not only a place for rest, enjoyment of nature, or beneficial physical activity, but also for creativity. Owners of their own little piece of land always strive to enrich it to the maximum, adding a bit of themselves. The main thing in this task is to find an interesting idea that even a beginner can implement. Today, we’ll talk about how to create garden decorations with your own hands, because even flowers need decor!

Where to start?

A small plot of land, with several flower beds grown on it. Amidst the tall stems of roses or tulips lurk brightly colored toy gnomes with perpetually smiling faces. Probably, this is how a decorated garden looks in the imaginations of people, absorbing images from American movies. In reality, surprisingly, everything is much more interesting and diverse when it comes to decorations, especially those that can be made by yourself.

The beauty of homemade crafts is that they do not require substantial financial investments. Moreover, original and aesthetic elements are often made from handy items that you have long considered trash. Old logs, worn tires, plastic bottles – some of these materials will definitely be found in the storeroom at the country house.

Decorating a garden is not like designing an interior. There are no strict stylistic and compositional rules here. But this may only complicate the task, as you will have to rely on your own sense of beauty, managing not to overdo it with the decor. After all, plants are the main characters of your territory.

However, you need to consider the overall style of the plot, as well as the structure of the house. For example, around a minimalist building with a geometric composition, even a colorful bouquet of roses would look inappropriate, let alone sculptures from plastic bottles. But for a cozy wooden cottage, you can let loose, creating cute crafts.

Pay attention to the color palette of the flower bed. If the ground is vibrant with bright buds, it is better to choose decorations with more restrained colors – so they do not merge with the background or look too colorful.

What items to fit into the space depends on its dimensions, your tastes, and requirements. After all, filling the garden can not only perform an aesthetic function but also serve practical purposes. In any case, if you wish, you can always find plenty of interesting solutions!

Functional items for the garden

These may not be full-fledged decorative elements, but their placement can dramatically change the appearance of the garden and also make it a pleasant place to relax.

Fences and barriers

To prevent your blooming flower beds from being adorned by tidy gnomes while your fence is a mismatch of old, nondescript boards, you should consider this detail as well.

You can green up your fence with virgin vine, ivy, or roses. This type of decor looks natural and romantic. You can paint a solid fence in a bright color or draw patterns on it – if your artistic skills allow.

A wrought iron fence with intertwined plants looks elegant. You can also divide your plot into zones with a low fence made of decorative netting.

Swings

Have you ever thought that small swings could not only guarantee joyful relaxation for your child but also become an aesthetic decoration in your garden? Surrounded by fruit trees or using them as support, they will surely bring a cheerful mood to your plot.

The simplest and most familiar solution from childhood is a tire swing tied to a tree. Or, as an option, a small board on ropes. You can go a little further and build a hammock – for this you need dense whole fabric.

With more complex types of swings, you probably won’t succeed without skills in working with wood. But the result is worth all the efforts: single or double constructions with cushions and a blanket – a dream of any cottage owner.

Birdhouses

If you want to fill your garden with birdsong, you need to ensure that feathered friends want to stay on your plot. Convenient and, importantly, aesthetic birdhouses will help with this.

Better to avoid using plastic bottles as feeders and make a full-fledged house, preferably out of wood. But you can always create an original item from handy materials, like a dried pumpkin or even dishes.

Lighting

For a garden with a large area, you will need to consider sources of artificial light so you won’t wander around it in the evening as if you’re in a dense forest.

Tall street lamps will look appropriate next to a gazebo or relaxation area. You can install hanging lanterns in other places. Romantic-looking are also lawn lamps or ones hidden between plants. You can equip swings with a colorful garland.

Oasis in the Garden: Creating a Pond

A pond makes for the best decoration in a garden. If you’ve found that the groundwater in your summer house is close to the surface, consider yourself lucky – this allows you to occupy a patch of land that’s not fit for planting.

For the less fortunate owners, there’s the option of an artificial pond. Ideally, you’d place it a bit off the lawn. You can create a pond by purchasing a special container or by lining a dug hole with polyethylene.

A ready-made pond in itself is a real canvas for creativity. You can introduce fish into it, floating flower beds, and so forth.

Ideas for Garden Paths

Any self-respecting gardener who cares about the aesthetics of their property should take the time to create beautiful and tidy paths. After all, trodden paths through the undergrowth look extremely unkempt and also make moving around the garden more difficult. Fortunately, solving this problem on your own is entirely feasible and quite fascinating, given the variety of options.

The difficulty in choosing comes perhaps only from the wide range of materials: wood, plastic, rubber, or paving slabs. Natural stone looks luxurious but might clash, for instance, with items made of plastic bottles. But it fits well in a landscape with a pond.

Wooden alleys look very cozy thanks to their deep texture. To ensure their long service, the surface is pre-coated with protective varnish.

Owners of brick houses will surely find material for corresponding paths. By combining parts of different shades, you can create geometric patterns, like mosaics. However, cobblestone, pebble, or gravel also works for such effect – these are the cheapest options.

However, some craftsmen manage to create unusual alleys even from waste materials – soda bottle caps or wine corks.

Oasis in the Garden: Creating a Pond

A pond serves as the best decoration for a garden. If you find that the groundwater at your vacation home is close to the surface, count yourself lucky. This will let you utilize an area of land unsuitable for planting.

For the less fortunate owners, there’s the option of an artificial pond. Ideally, you should position it a little away from the lawn. You can create a pond by buying a special container or lining a dug hole with polyethylene.

A ready-made pond itself becomes a true field for creativity. You can add fish, floating flower beds, etc.

Ideas for Garden Paths

Every self-respecting vacation home owner who cares about the aesthetics of their plot should consider creating beautiful and tidy paths. After all, trodden paths through overgrown vegetation look extremely untidy and complicate movement around the garden. Fortunately, it’s entirely possible and quite fun to solve this problem yourself, given the variety of options available.

The only difficulty in choosing may be the wide range of materials available: wood, plastic, rubber, or paving stones. Natural stone looks luxurious, but it strangely combines, for example, with items made from plastic bottles. But it goes well with a landscape that includes a pond.

Wooden alleyways look very cozy thanks to their deep texture. To ensure they last a long time, you should pre-coat the surface with protective varnish.

Owners of brick houses will undoubtedly find material for corresponding paths. By combining parts of different shades, you can create geometric patterns, like a mosaic. For such an effect, cobblestones, pebbles, or gravel – the cheapest option – will also work.

However, some masters manage to create unique alleyways from waste materials – soda bottle caps or wine corks.

Garden Decorations Made From Plastic Bottles

Oh, how many wonderful items plastic bottles prepare for us! Don’t let their less-than-enviable environmental reputation scare you. As garden decor, they will serve excellently. Plastic is durable, long-lasting, and offers numerous usage options, despite its unattractive appearance.

PET bottles make an excellent base for creating figures. Besides the containers themselves, you will need glue, scissors, and acrylic paint if the original surface doesn’t satisfy you. From then on, you’ll need to use your imagination, as you can craft any figure from this packaging. You can use both the whole container and cut out many small details from it.

Plastic bottles are perfect for creating useful decorative items, such as flower beds. To do this, you need to cut a small vertical area from the bottle and fill it with soil. The “nose” of the container will become the face of an animal figure, which you can decorate in any available way.

Another option is inexpensive borders for flower beds. Smaller containers will do for this – you need to fill them with sand or another heavy base, then “plant” them around the desired plot of land. To avoid monotony, you can paint the border.

Garden Decorations Made From Stones

Besides making garden paths from pebbles, it’s also an excellent material for a variety of crafts.

People use large stone for flower beds and planters, laying it in the necessary sequence – for example, as a unique border. For stability, you can apply pebbles to a cement solution, trying to avoid the formation of cracks. In this way, you can create high structures.

Traditionally in landscape design, natural stone decorates ponds. People lay it around its contour, alternating pebbles of different sizes. A well-kept pond becomes the key object of any garden.

Some people use pebbles as cladding material for garden elements. With it, you can even create real art objects, filling frame structures of a given shape with this material.

But the most popular way to use stone remains figure decor. Pebbles are an excellent canvas for complex and simple art compositions that will wonderfully decorate any garden. With their help, you can create, for example, a ladybug or a large cat – it all depends on your skill level.

Garden Decorations Made From Tires

No place to dispose of old car tires? No problem, utilize them in your garden. Thanks to simple manipulations, tires transform into quite aesthetic, and sometimes even useful items, that will embellish any plot.

A favorite type of decor from this material is animal figures. But to create them, you need to understand how to make a swan or an alligator from a wheel, which has a completely different shape. Or you can watch masterclasses and see that there’s nothing complicated about it. Acrylic paint, which will “bring to life” your character, plays a key role in decoration.

Some crafty people even make full garden furniture sets from tires, complete with a table and chairs. You can try it too, as a warm-up exercise, build a playground first. Your kid will enjoy jumping through the wheel or playing with a tame zebra.

Practically no work, except painting, is required to create a flower bed from car tires. You only need to position them at the required place, possibly at different levels, and then fill them up like a pot. Cheap and cheerful!