h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the furthest corner of our garden we have an area about 2m x 4m to fill to link the lawn (on the short side) with a path that leads up through a semi wooded area. There's a hedge as backdrop & tree/low bushes on the long side up to the path at the end.
We can lose a bit by making a wide path & extending planing but I'm thinking we need a feature of some sort.
We wondered about some sort of statue/ornament.
Any ideas?

I get the feeling that you aren't talking about plants here. The thing is, though, that what's in the rest of the garden is going to have to fit somehow with what you put in the corner. Fountains are often nice. There are some battery-powered little ones that seem to go well just about anywhere.

As for statues or lawn ornaments or, perish the thought, pink flamingos, I wonder what is most common in your neighborhood. If the neighbors all have garden gnomes, you probably won't invite censure by having them, but if none of them do, you might not want to be the only one who does. Just sayin'.

I've seen some green ceramic turtles that look nice. I considered one for my backyard garden, but then I planted more plants where it would have gone.

No-one will see it except us, unless it's very large/noisy/bright in which case our neighbour will be affected - their house is nearer this particular corner than ours. No need to match the neighbourhood except that our house is a listed building & we're in a conservation area. Our garden is a fairly informal rampant sort.

Parts of my neighborhood are in a conservation area too, and this means that it's always wise to plant native plants wherever possible. Would wetland animals like turtles and frogs be found in the area? Statues of these creatures would evoke the natural setting.

Any chance of a broad but shallow bird-bath for the little ones?

We have a small statue of a cavorting lady in one corner of our garden. It's quite low-key cavorting which in real life would probably involve Pete n Dud gauze, but the statue isn't detailed enough to show it.

That sort of thing, perhaps?

Mol

Good food for thought. I think we'll probably steer clear of water, other than maybe a natural dip, as too many leaves fall there & we want low maintenance where possible!
I think I'm veering towards a semi-wildlife area with perhaps a bird/animal type statue.

What to put in a garden corner? Naughty gnomes obviously.

You can never go wrong with a gnome or a small statue of some kind.... or an eratic statueette.... - some random piece of industrialarna...... industrial-stuff... err... iron work good... Hmmm. gnomes.... fairys... elfs.... or a statue of

Get a female gnome and name her Ann.

http://xkcd.com/1704/

Have you considered planting a tree? It's probably the single best thing you can do to support wildlife.

Failing that, a seat?

How about a statue of a baby?
Apparently no-one puts baby in the corner, so you'd be setting a new, unique trend.

<BB<

A holly bush? It's attractive year-round.

A holly bush would spread to fill that area in no time. I'd recommend something more vertical.

And they're particularly antisocial things to manage.

(Funny - I haven't written that last sentence since I wrote my staff appraisals in March)

The trials and tribulations of being a manager are, happily, behind me since I retired.

something verticle? not me then...

It's not a vegetable garden -- not that you have ever been a vegetable.

You don't say how much sun it gets, but my favourite so far would be the bench or a water feature, except that a fountain uses up lots of power, and water attracts mosquitoes and is probably quite heavy maintenance.

Other ideas apart from a stone or metal statue:

- A topiaried box bush
- A stone garden (they're all the rage here)
- a zen garden
- just low-growing ground-covering shrubs
- A large barrel or urn with seasonal plants in it
- one of those herb spiral thingies
- a rotary washing line
- a gazebo
- an "insect hotel"
- an array of solar garden lights (personally I find these very annoying)
- a rabbit hutch
- a rose garden

2m x 4m - could you fit a mini-boules or bowls court in that?