Adobe Stock / David Prahl
Here are five ways to increase the attractiveness of your home and your own wellbeing this spring with beautiful flowers, garden sculptures, and beautiful bird nests.
If you are feeling restless after the long winter, it is the perfect way to get your attention to your yard to keep your hands busy and your thoughts moving. And gardening is one of the best things you can do to brighten up your space – but the benefits don’t stop there. It also has measurable effects on your quality of life, community, and overall health, according to a study by Preventive Medicine Reports. Check out these five gardening tips to find a nice space and sane mind.
Reduce, reuse, reuse
Adobe Stock / David Prahl
Nestled in the quiet village of Arden is Sadie Somerville’s house and blooming garden – what her friends and fellow gardeners might call quirky. With its brightly colored pots and charming collection of antiques, the garden is so imaginative it almost feels like fiction. “Sadie’s garden is straight out of a picture book,” says her close friend Dink Pompper. “When you enter this garden, it is like walking through a fairy tale.”
While Somerville works to preserve Arden’s history, it’s not what could be called traditional when it comes to gardening. Somerville and her partner Rodney Jester don’t strive for a perfectly manicured outdoor space, but instead embrace the beauty of playfulness. Her favorite way to achieve this look: reusing old and antique pieces for her garden.
In Somerville’s case, the best way to bring life to the room was to fill it with history. If your yard feels lackluster, she suggests you go to an antique store and let your imagination run wild. A rusted wheelbarrow might look doomed for a landfill, but it could easily be turned into a house for pot parsley or agastache, suggests Somerville. An old window frame may look like trash, but paint it red and prop it up against a tree and it’ll create a whim.
“I like things that look interesting,” says Somerville. “As an artist, I’ve always been interested in old and colorful things. If you find something blue, yellow, red, or orange, it will stand out against the overall green of your garden. “
Her favorite place to find reused items is Renewed for You, a store just across the state line in Bethel. “The place is perfect as an inspiration to reuse old architecture, gates, household items, furniture and decorative items for your garden,” she says. There are also some antique shops near Chadd’s Ford that are worth checking out.
Adobe Stock / Shaiith
Embrace your inner artist
There is no rule that says your favorite sculptures need to be displayed in your home. If you want to add an eye-catching dimension and surprise to your outdoor area, place sculptures in your garden or front yard. Whether it’s a classic stone carved statue or a more eccentric modern piece, any type of art is guaranteed to create a bold contrast to the rest of your garden.
According to Somerville, the key to choosing pieces that will brighten your space is to be adventurous. “If you like it, put it in your yard,” she says. “It may feel difficult to find something that suits you, but be brave and just keep trying.”
In her own garden, Somerville likes to keep the fairy tale alive by hiding little fairies among her flowers. The cheerful nymphs adorn their English garden and give childlike astonishment to the paths that meander through the dense flowers. “It makes our garden magical,” she says. “It’s almost like ‘The Secret Garden’.”
While the fairies may seem magical, there is no big secret behind integrating them into your own space. Somerville says you can find metal fairies, butterflies, moths, and other simple artistic pieces at your local gardening store. All you have to do is hammer their stakes into your yard and they will be fun for the seasons to come.
If larger pieces are more your style, Somerville notes that adding artistic flair to your space doesn’t have to be expensive. She recommends going to a craft or gardening store and picking up an artificial stone sculpture. Not only are they easier to wear than the original, but they can also be easily painted to look older or to match the rest of your garden.
Make friends with the birds
A yard is a place to collect. Friends and family share meals here in summer, campfires in autumn and planting days in spring. But a garden is not just a place where loved ones can come together – birds also build their houses here.
If your yard feels a little too serene after a long winter, Somerville recommends designing your outdoor space with feathery friends in mind. As you take steps to create a garden that welcomes birds, you will quickly find that your home comes to life with the sounds of creatures passing by. In addition, birdhouses and bird baths are an easy way to brighten up your space without a lot of maintenance.
Adobe Stock / Brian
“Supporting the birds started out as something that we just like aesthetically,” says Somerville. “We loved the way their houses looked with the flowers. But as we started enjoying their company, we became more interested in creating habitats for wildlife. “
She and Jester have incorporated a variety of birdhouses into their garden over the years, including Somerville’s personal favorite: intricate wooden houses with porches and window boxes. But birdhouses don’t have to be complex to make a difference. Even a simple carved pumpkin can provide birds with a safe place to build their nests. Plus, creating these nests can be a fun activity for the whole family. If you want to bring some bright colors to your space, Somerville recommends going to your local craft store to pick up a bird feeder kit. You can paint them to complement your home and yard, and they add color to your porch and the surrounding trees.
Go local
When the near-constant mowing, pruning, and mulching is getting on in years, it may be time to ditch the manicured lawn and opt for something more natural. Local gardening – the practice of gardening with plants that are native to our region – not only supports the ecosystem, but also creates a wonderful personal oasis around your home.
According to Sue Barton, a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware and a member of the Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association, non-native plants can make gardening harder than it needs to be. If you choose plants that are native to this region, like black-eyed susans or yellow thistles, you may find that they are much happier in your soil than ornamental plants from overseas. The reason for this is simple: they have adapted to thrive in these parts.
Indeed, ornamental gardening can be more than a challenge – it can be downright damaging to the ecosystem. Local animals have evolved to depend specifically on our native plants for food and shelter. If you fill your garden with alien plants, you may be unknowingly throwing an animal out of its home. The key to a healthy garden is balance. “Non-native plants are very attractive, and you may want to have them in your landscape as long as they are not invasive,” says Barton. “But it won’t add to wildlife the way a native plant would.”
According to Barton, an easy way to start doing local gardening is to think of your yard as an outdoor space. Fill the perimeter of your garden with native plants like dogwood, squid, and cute goldenrod. You will create the “walls” to give privacy to your grass, she explains where you live and gather. If you’re not sure which native plants will work in your space, check with your local gardening store. They point out plants that will thrive in your garden while also helping the environment.
Photo courtesy Sadie Somerville
Give rock a chance
When you picture a garden, the flowers, green foliage, and colorful planters in general steal the show. Among those vivid colors, however, are the garden’s underrated performers: Rocks. Even if they don’t look glamorous, a bed of rocks or boulder in your yard might be just the thing for you this season.
Whether it’s the centerpiece or an accent, stones can add texture and depth to any area of your garden – from the mailbox to the flower beds around your porch. One of the easiest ways to make stones a staple in your garden is to simply highlight them where they naturally fall. Pompper, who maintains a shady garden in Arden, chose to leave the large, natural boulders in his garden instead of pulling them away. It then serves as a backdrop for shade-loving plants such as hostas and ferns.
If you don’t have naturally occurring boulders in your yard, you can install these with the help of a local landscaping company, says Pompper. They will help you adapt your boulders to your surroundings and find a balance between them and the surrounding plants.
Are you looking for something more subtle? He’s also a fan of incorporating small stones and pebbles into his outdoor space, and finds that they help create definitions in flower beds while maintaining a rustic look. “If you choose a stone that is native to your region, it will look natural,” says Pompper. “I bought some granite stones and used them to outline my flower beds. If you’re looking for something that stands out, choose more colorful stones that go with your theme. “
