Garden ornament

Agarden ornamentorlawn ornamentis a non-plant item used forgarden,landscape,andparkenhancement and decoration.

Germangarden gnomein a Wendelin landscape

Bird bath

Pedestal urn planter atThornewood Castle,Lakewood, Washington

Pavilion in theHortus Haren,Haren, Groningen,Netherlands

Sundialas a centrepiece atGreenbank Gardenin Carolside, Scotland

History

Early examples of the use of garden ornaments in western culture were seen inAncient Roman gardenssuch as those excavated atPompeiiandHerculaneum.TheItalian Renaissance gardenandFrench formal gardenstyles were the peak of using created forms in the garden and landscape, withhigh artandkitschinterpretations ever since. TheEnglish landscape gardenexpanded the scale of some garden ornaments to templefollies

The Asian tradition of making garden ornaments, often functioning in association withFeng Shuiprinciples, has a nearly timeless history.Chinese gardenswithChinese scholar's rocks,Korean stone art,andJapanese gardenswithSuisekiandZen rock gardenshave a symbolic meaning and natural ornamental qualities.

Types

Garden ornaments include:

• bench
• bird baths
• bird feeders
• birdhouses
• columns–cast stone
• fire basket
• flower box
  • window box
• fountains
• jardiniere
  • kugel fountain
• garden furniture
• gazing spheres
• hanging baskets
• landscape lighting– decorative fixtures
• outdoor candle
• outdoor fireplace
• Scholar's rock,a traditional Chinese feature
• outdoor sculpture
  • sculpture trail
  • found objectssuch as recycledbowling balls,toilet planters, antiquefarm equipment
  • kinetic sculpture
  • masks
  • obelisks
  • renewable energy sculpture
• pagoda– small versions
• pedestals– e.g.terracotta,cast stone
• pots
  • urns
  • ceramic artvases
• rain chains
• sundials
• waterfalls– small prefabricated type
• weathervanes
• wind chimes

Lawn ornament

A front lawn featuring a fountain and a small sculpture of an elephant

Lawn ornamentsare decorative objects placed in thegrassy areaof a property.

• Animal forms: animal statues such as frogs, turtles, rabbits, deer, flamingoes and ducks are cast in plastic or cement.

• Bathtub Madonna:a statue of Mary the mother of Jesus is placed in a bathtub half buried under the ground. Statues of Mary are most often made of white concrete, but are sometimes painted with a blue garment.

• Bird bath:a structure designed to hold water for birds to bathe in or drink, generally supported upon a pedestal, is known as a bird bath.

• Bird feeder:a container for foods such as bird seeds is often designed to look like a miniature house or barn, and may be mounted on a stake, post, or column.

• Concrete Aboriginal:a lawn ornament once common in Australia.

• Concrete goose:a popular lawn ornament in the United States.

A front lawn featuring anInternational Truckis an example of "found object art".Elephant earsandsunflowerswere purposely planted to adorn the antique farm equipment on this US lawn.

• Found objectart: items such asbowling balls,toiletplanters, and antiquefarm equipmentmay be repurposed as lawn ornaments.

• Francis of Assisi:a saint often associated with nature and animals may be cast in plaster or cement.

• Garden gnome:a small, generally colorful gnome statuette.

• Human form: a depiction of a human being. Human form lawn ornaments can be two-dimensional, generally vertically supported by being thrust in the ground, or three-dimensional. Examples of human form lawn ornaments include the concrete Aboriginal, lawn jockey and groomsman. Examples of two-dimensional human form lawn ornaments include renditions of Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch people. A variation of the Pennsylvania Dutch human form is a depiction of an older female bending over as in gardening, thus revealing her undergarments.

• Jigglers: plastic or metal flowers, birds and insects fitted on spring-loaded stakes so that they jiggle when the wind blows on them.

• Lawn jockey,or Jocko, or Groomsmen: an often diminutive statuette of a black horse attendant dressed in slave clothing, also called a Jocko. Groomsmen were often used as hitching posts. The origin of the groomsman is disputed, but it is accepted that they originated in the U.S. South. No longer as common since the civil rights movement. The "Cavalier" variation typically depicts awhitefigure. One legend has it that the first Groomsman was created at the commission ofGeorge Washington.

• Lighthouses:small-scale representations of local lighthouses are popular in coastal areas.

• Nest box/bird house: a small house for a bird normally made of wood and on a stake.

• Plastic flamingo:a generally lifesize replica of a pinkflamingo.According to some, the origin of the plastic flamingo was in 1946 with the company Union Products in its "Plastics for the Lawn" product line. Their collection included dog, ducks, frogs, and a flamingo.

• Spinners: usually shaped like flowers with petals that spin in the wind. Variations include birds or insects with spinning wings.

• Statuaryand outdoor sculpture

• Topiaryspecimens

• Whirligig:an often animalistic sculpture generally supported vertically by being pushed in the ground characterized by at least one rotating member often designed to appear as a bodypart of the sculpture.

• Windmill:a disconnected but free-spinning miniature, typically in the American Aermotor style having about a dozen metal vanes, or the traditional Dutch style having four wood vanes.

• Yard globe:a light-reflective sphere, as large as 12 "in diameter or more and generally displayed on top of a support structure. Also called gazing globes or gazing balls.

See also

• Ornament (architecture)
• Garden design
• Garden feature
• Landscape design

Further reading

• Goings, Kenneth W., Mammy and Uncle Mose: Black Collectibles and American Stereotyping (Indiana University Press) (1st printing, 1994).
• Varkonyi, Charlyne, A Bird in the hand: The Story of the Pink Flamingo, Sun-Sentinel (date unknown) (FL).

External links

• Guide to garden ornaments
• A Guide to Freedom - Jockey statues marked Underground Railroad, Lexington Herald-Leader, Sunday, February 22, 1998.