Garden Ornaments Can Grab Attention

A stunning garden ornament, such as an urn or fountain, can divert the eye from an unappealing view.

“Because you have a very special piece, the eye is going to tend to focus on that piece and disregard a lot of what is going on around it,” Dallas landscape architect Bruce Berger says.

So much the better if you can block the distracting background.

“If you can properly screen it with evergreen materials or trees, that piece becomes much more dominant in the landscape,” Berger says. An ornament can call attention to an existing focal point, such as a lovely shade tree.

Position a bench, urn or statue under the tree, and you’ve created a destination. Or an ornament can be a destination in itself. For an overgrown look, you may want an arbor or column draped with vines or climbing roses.

And if your ornaments aren’t old, don’t worry. There are ways to hasten the aging process. Fort Worth landscape designer Ray Armstrong recommends Stone Age, a spray-on organic material that encourages the growth of lichen and moss on a new terra cotta pot, concrete bench or stone urn.

Or you can place a new terra cotta pot in a plastic bag of grass clippings, add some fertilizer and stash it in the garage for a month or so, he suggests. Or bury it in the compost pile.

You can even spray on a rust finish. A product called Modern Options, which belies its name, brings about the look of old, rusty iron.

Don’t overlook a garage-sale object because it’s in imperfect condition. A cracked jug, laid in the yard at an angle, can be just the right touch, Armstrong suggests. Or a statue with the arm broken off can still be beautiful, he says - and it already looks old.

Stone or concrete spheres, which originally would have crowned columns or marked the entrance to a drive, can be strewn on the lawn.