Choosing and Adding Statues to Your Home Garden

Statuary is a great way to provide your garden with some personality and add dimension and a focal point. The type of statuary you decide to add to your garden can pull a themed garden together, set a mood and change the way visitors experience your garden for themselves. Once you have chosen the perfect garden statue to add, you need to consider the placement of your statuary. Just like your flowers and plants, garden statues become a part of your landscaping and care must be taken in where and how they are placed within your garden. The following are popular choices for garden statues and where to place them in your own garden for the best effect.

Classical Statues
Classical garden statues are among the most popular and best selling statues, and with good reason. A classical statue can add distinctive character to a garden when it is incorporated into the garden in the right way. Some examples of classical statues that you can add to your garden include Greek reproductions, the Pieta, David, a variety of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses and Lady Justice.

The trick about placing classical statues in the garden is to make them seem like they are part of the garden. Avoid placing statues where there is already defined growth, instead place them alone as a centerpiece or ending to a garden path or within a growing garden.

Mythical Statues
Mythical statues provide your garden with imagination and inspiration that beckons visitors to explore and revel in nature. Popular mythical statues include dragons and unicorns, fairies and mermaids, and dragons. These types of statues look best in gardens with plenty dense plant growth that are either in shaded areas or gardens full of flowers. Unlike classical statues, mythical statues should be tucked into crevices, full blooms of flowers and hidden throughout the garden. The practice of hiding the statues within the garden adds to the mystique of a themed garden.

Exotic Statues
Exotic statues can take a garden in a lot of different directions and are best appreciated in a simple garden plan. Zen gardens benefit from exotic statues that add to a contemplative mood or they can be used to pull together an untamed looking ornamental grass garden. Some examples of popular exotic statues include lions, elephants, temples, and exotic birds.

This type of statuary is a great way to pull people into the rest of your garden. Don’t place exotic statues within or in the background of a garden. Instead, take a step back from your garden and find the first spot that your eye is pulled to. Place the statue in that general area as a way to draw visitors into your garden and keep them wanting to see where your garden continues to. In this way the statue becomes both a distraction and a tempting invitation.

Religious Statues
Religious statues are a very popular option and generally chosen for religious reasons, of course. Some of the most popular religious statues include The Virgin Mary, Buddha, various saints, and various temples. In these instances, the statuary becomes the focal point and a garden is designed around them. Religious statuary is a great addition to prayer or meditation gardens.