Treasure Hill Cottage

My neighborhood is one of those suburban backdrops that you always see in the movies. Everyone is out on the weekend, pruning their garden and carefully arranging their yard decorations. Every year there is a friendly, yet heated, competition to determine best garden on the block.

It wasn’t a big deal until some of my neighbors got really competitive. My edge is that I’ve got stylish garden decor objects in my yard. No sir, no ceramic gnomes for me! One of the Victorian birdhouses I recently purchased is my centerpiece because it is decorative and useful. Even the judges this year loved it!

Having one or more garden sculptures as decorations in your yard is the best way to maintain beauty throughout the year. They definitely add charm to the peaceful greenery. Garden sculptures come in many forms and designs; they can be made out of copper, aluminum, and other metals. Some of the whimsical styles you can find are:

~Jug planters - house some of your plants in interestingly designed containers that will add personality to your outdoor area.

~Copper stakes - shaped in the form of various animals, these handcrafted whimsies will brighten every visit to your garden.

~Other metals sculptures - hang these intricate designs like butterflies, the sun, and the moon anywhere outdoors.

Spring is the time when nature and your garden awakes and comes alive after the long winter.  Spring is the time to interplant perennials, shrubs, roses and plant or transplant your annuals.

It’s time to shape up your soil, loosen the mulch around your plants and prune your early blooming shrubs. Rake and remove leaves and debris from your garden. Without a good planting medium your flower garden will never be at its best.

An important part of spring gardening is getting on top of the weeds. Most weeds are fairly easy to control when you start taking them out from early spring on. At that time they still have a shallow root system and because they haven’t bloomed yet they haven’t reproduced either. Taking care of them in spring will pay off big in summer.

Now that all the clean-up, planting, pruning and weeding is done its time to have some fun by adding some garden decor into your beds.  This can take the form of statuary, a bench, stepping stones, decorative birdhouses, a fountain or birdbath.  The list goes on and on.  Choose the item that best suits the theme you are trying to achieve and that reflects your personality.

Spring, it’s really the growing season, and for a gardener it’s perhaps the most beautiful and promising time of the year.

To have a delightful garden, it’s important to create an atmosphere that encompasses all of the natural elements; water, wood, metal, fire, and stone. Most gardens will incorporate wood and water, but often forget the other three important elements. For metal in the garden, consider silhouette metal art. The images can be whatever you like; cats, dogs, cowboys, it all depends on your tastes, and no, the metal on your garden swing or bench doesn’t count! Fire tends to be most difficult element to include, but in general, a garden lantern, torches, or a fire bowl are excellent additions. Stonework is essential for a thriving garden, including fountains, statuettes, and stepping-stones.

Having an elemental garden will make your outdoor experience much better.  Just think of all the unique pieces you or your visitors will have to admire in addition to the standard flowers, shrubs, and trees!

There’s nothing quite as ornate and decorative as products that emerged from the Victorian era. Known for its artistic flourishes and embellishments, anything associated with that age is sure to be decorative and beautiful. This includes everything from interior home décor to outdoor products. As such, if you’re looking to give your yard a boost of decorative beauty, look to a Victorian birdhouse.

Not only will you get to enjoy the birds that will flock to your home, but you’ll also get to enjoy the sheer beauty of the birdhouse itself. Depending on the style you purchase, it might have ornate architecture, or it might even boast stained glass. Whatever makes the birdhouse distinctly Victorian, it will be a great way to revive a yard that was otherwise bland and lacking in decoration.Victorian birdhouse

The beauty of the hammock is that once you hang it up, you can stretch out in it and the reliable hammock will mold to your body as if it was built just for you. It is all the support your body will need in order to relieve pressure off your back. The hammock will help calm and relax your body. You will wake up energized, very refreshed and ready to go about with your day.

According to several medical sources, pregnant women also have found success in relieving their prenatal pains by using hammocks for rest, relaxation and sleep. If you are looking for a physical state of muscle relaxation, then you need to buy yourself a cotton hammock today.

It is amazing how popular the hobby of bird watching is.  Some people travel the world to see their favorite varieties or wait for the swallows to come back to Capistrano every year.  Others prefer to relax at home and let the birds come to them.  If this describes you, decorative birdhouses may be just the thing for you.

Today you can find virtually any type of birdhouse, including those shaped like buildings-fire stations, country lodges, casinos, and more. I’ve even seen one shaped like a canteen, and another like a rooster wearing cowboy boots. Some of them are designed to be freestanding and others are made to be mounted on a tree or roof.  Whatever the theme of your garden, you can find a birdhouse that will please you and your feathered guests.

Recently I purchased a new home for the first time, thanks in large part to the government’s first time homebuyer tax credit. Although there are many exciting aspects of owning a new home, the thing that I was most excited about was maintaining my own garden. Within weeks of moving in I already had a variety of flowers and produce sprouting up in the beds.

As I was constantly going into the garden to tend to my plants, I quickly wore a path in the grass between the house and the beds. In order to give the grass a reprieve, I purchased several garden stepping stones to create a manmade walkway. Not only do they look great, but now I can easily get back and forth to the garden with trampling the lawn.

With autumn coming and the temperature dropping, the opportunities to plant and cultivate a garden are dwindling. In the fall and winter it can be a challenge for gardeners to find ways to practice their hobby. Keeping small potted plants or an herb garden inside are great ways to continue growing foliage even when it is freezing outside. There are also ways to keep your outside garden aesthetically pleasing all year round.

Make sure that your garden is stocked with a good mix of perennial plants that keep their color all year, like shrubs and evergreens. Adding a variety of garden statues and decorations is essential to ensuring your garden has a personal touch all year. Birdhouses and feeders, sundials and ornate fencing are easy ways to add personality to your garden that will endure through every season.

Living out in the countryside brings you to a harmonious peace with nature. A city girl most of my life, my husband and I retired to the outskirts of Knoxville, Tennessee. We wanted to escape the traffic and the pollution that accompanies it, the racing noises and the, as we call it, concrete jungle. Far away from everything we’d ever known, we made a tiny, yet cozy, home for ourselves.

My favorite aspect of our roost is the elongated, wraparound porch that stretches from our red front door to the sunroom located around back. At dusk we rest in our patio furniture out back and sip red wine as we discuss our post-retirement goals in life. And as we relax I can hear the gentle tweets of local birds as they snack on their dinner from our Victorian birdhouse. Life is good!