Tips for Adding Artistic Elements to Your Garden

Is your garden a work of art? I have a loose interpretation of the term, believing that all things growing green are works of art, from overgrown wildflowers to carefully curated shrubs and succulents. I was anti-gnome / fake deer until I watched “Amelie,” and now want to send every garden gnome on an adventure before placing him to settle in amongst my vegetables, whispering his travel stories of flight to beets and carrots as they root into the ground.   (I’d prefer to live within the world of children’s books.)

How does your artistic vision flow over into your garden? A gnome here, contrasting colors of oranges with blues and purples there?  A “Mud Maid?”  Check out io9’s compilation of some of the strangest garden art out there, from Artigas Gardens (Jardins de Can Artigas) in La Pobla de Lillet, Catalonia, built between 1905 and 1906, designed by Antoni Gaudí, to a Plastic Bottle Vertical Garden by the Lar Doce Rar (translated: Home Sweet Home) project, in Brazil, to a Tree Circus in the Gilroy Gardens, created by Axel Erlandson between 1925 and 1963.

How will you embrace art in your green space?  The juxtaposition of the hard and the soft with a prickly, sturdy cactus living in harmony with soft fern fronds or delicate soapwort?  BHG.com has a guide to the elements of a beautiful garden, from strong lines directing one’s gaze, to curved lines creating peace.  Like any artistic pursuit, it can be good to know the guidelines. Play with the rules. Break them.

What have you been doing lately with your green, artist’s thumb?  Do you have any additional lighting in your garden or yard, to allow you to enjoy the colors a little later in the night?  Much like a painting or mixed media piece, you can play with texture, form, shape.  I’d love to see what you have created! Post photos of your works of garden art to @TheCityFarm and @RebeccaSnavely, or leave a link in the comment section to your photo collection online!

(Photo credit: io9, Amelie Garden Gnome)