Rocks in the Garden

One of my currently mostly-green gardens.
Hopefully morning glories and moonflowers will be spreading up that trellis soon.

I adore garden decor... Little statues, birdbaths, stepping stones, etc. are so fun to add to a garden and add some personality. (I say that with caution, as one doesn't want a circus of garden statues in one's yard... but a few cute touches here and there are nice to break up the greenery while waiting for perennials to bloom, right? :)

Garden decor can put a dent in one's wallet, so sometimes you need to be a little creative. The little space in front of my beat-up bird bath needed "something" but I didn't want to put another plant in this garden.

The solution:

Rocks. That's right -- rocks! Rocks totally rock, right? Little stones add interest and texture and are -- wait for it -- FREE! Anyone with a child knows kids love to collect stones and rocks and all things nature, so why not put those buckets filled with rocks to good use. Most of these are from trips and travels and beaches and rivers and dirt roads. They fill in a space. They add some interest, with varying colors and shapes. (See the heart-shaped ones?) They stand-out on the mulch. And they look like a path to the ol' bird bath and give it a little more pizazz than being lost in the sea of green.

I always loved how Diane Keaton's character in Something's Gotta Give collected white beach rocks. Such a simple thing, but easy as well. So if you have a bucket or jar or bunch of rocks somewhere, give them a home in your garden. In the fall, put them back in your bucket so they don't get lost under snow and leaves, and in the spring, plant a new patch of rocks back in the garden.