Dressing Up the Yard on a Budget
Landscape designers offer some suggestions to gardeners who want to dabble in ornamentation without making a big financial commitment.
* Broken statuary--such as earthquake damaged pieces--can be used to great effect as a back-yard ruin, says Robert Steiner of the Venice firm Griffith and Steiner.
He also takes square chunks of recycled concrete and piles them in a tower to support large vases and statuary. Concrete blocks can also be stacked to make supporting columns.
“It’s not expensive to cut concrete, and you’d be amazed at the great things you can make with a pedestal and a pot if you elevate it above the bed.”
* Cut corners on the “hardscaping”--driveways, walkways, terraces--suggests Mark Rios.
“Hardscaping is expensive. You can spend anywhere from $4 to $20 a square foot, depending on if it’s concrete or some nice stone,” he says.
“We do a lot of gravel. It’s really cheap. Has a nice crunchy sound. It accepts litter for a nice mottled effect. You can drive on it. It’s softer and better for the environment; water goes through it. We’ve done a lot of gravel gardens.”
* Stone balls and large pots offer the scale of sculpture without the price, says Mia Lehrer. She also likes to scour resale shops and flea markets for such affordable garden ornaments as old birdhouses and birdbaths.
