More Ideas: Fill up bicycle baskets, toolboxes, jugs, galvanized containers, buckets, ceramic bowls, old pots, and enamel tubs. Planting Tip: Line metal vessels such as wheelbarrows with heavy-duty plastic. If there’s a rusted hole, pull the plastic through and snip a hole for drainage. Then fill with potting soil. Design Tip: Position your birdbath so you can enjoy watching birds splashing in the water from inside your house or while out on the patio. More Ideas: Arrange a group of glass bottles to catch light, hang garden hand tools to focus on their shapes, arrange broken ceramic pieces in a mosaic, or hang nuts and bolts as a mobile. Design Tip: Typically, a grouping of objects looks better with an odd number. Design Tip: Create motion in your display by giving things a tilt. These watering cans look ready to douse the nearest bloom and, as a result, imply a sense of motion. Planting Tip: Rock-garden plants and creeping groundcovers can settle nicely in crevices next to salvaged stone statues or decorative fragments. Design Tip: Be bold. Half the fun of a whimsical garden is the element of surprise. Pick a contrasting or complementary color and concentrate it in one locale. The results will be impressive. Design Tip: Position a main element in a place of honor: at the end of a winding path, amid a riot of flowers, or at an entrance. This placement showcases the piece and creates a sense of arrival for visitors. Design Tip: Mix and match. Every piece in your design need not be identical—or perfect.
