If you ever dreamed of a quirky house that was like no other, a yard filled with art cobbled together over decades, or living in an artist's colony, then perhaps your life needs to take a turn toward the unique. In the house, you can feel cluttered by sculpture and decorative items, but in a yard, they can get lost in the vines and grass, bushes and pathways. Others might be okay with the zombie-like suburban tract gardens, but as we age we can finally express our individuality and not care about the Joneses.
This video below shows a couple with the right idea about piecing together a creative, expressive life and a great attitude about happiness.
Sources for repurposing and creatively designing an artist's yard -
NextDoor.com is a great site as it connects you to your neighbors within a radius of your home. You can get warnings from them on street closures, requests for a good plumber to use, and also tons of free items. They often list free garden things like sand, rock, edging, as well as dressers, windows, cabinets and more.
Outside of town, you often find areas where people have been dumping in the desert or the woods. It's a sad thing that people do this, but it also affords you a place to forage.
Friends and family can also be good sources when you mention you want "junk."
Look to nature for bark, twigs, limbs, pinecones, vines, and more.
Check your own shed and garage, as well as inside your home for furnishings, wire, Christmas lights, and more that you can utilize.
Consider solar lights and Christmas lights so you can have a nicely lit wonderland at night.
Considering utilizing commonly considered indoor items such as dressers, headboard, wash tub, pitcher and bowl, and other items repurposed outside.
Stretch sailcloth for overhead shading and also a pop of color overhead or behind garden items to create a wall that provides a hidden secret garden behind.
Watch the 1993 film, "The Secret Garden" and "Stealing Beauty" to find some great inspirations for your artist's yard.
Make sculptures out of wood, metal, young sapling twigs that can be bent and tied, concrete and other materials. Be creative. There is no right way to make art.
Age items so they look as though they have been there forever, either with faux painting and crackling or try your hand at naturally rusting and verdigris techniques on metal and copper.
Use rocks to make a short retaining wall or pathway.
Utilize birdhouses and hummingbird feeders,waterfalls, whirlygigs and windchimes to add wildlife as well as movement and sound.
Consider plant life as a great form of art from climbing clinging vines covering things to shaping and grooming, arbors, planters, adding height, width, privacy, color, flowers, scent, fruit, et cetera.
Adding items and areas over time is an ideal plan as you begin to utilize your garden and sit there in an area and realize, you'd like something green in one area or an arbor, a teepee, a treehouse, a she shed, something shiny, or something tall.
Garden humor goes a long way too!
Repurpose. Guide the eye to winding paths. Make areas of privacy. The sound of water. The scent of jasmine. Shade. Resting areas. Attraction for wildlife.
However you do an artist's garden, it will always be a sanctuary for your soul.
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