NEW TRENDS IN GARDEN ART

It's out with the gnomes, in with the new as Buddhas, outdoor paintings, bold colors and recycled artworks take over 21st century gardens. Here's how to make these trends your own.

By Marilyn Lewis



With garden experts these days urging us to treat our outdoor plots as rooms, the question becomes, "How shall we decorate them?"

Oh, so glad you asked. Fashion changes constantly -- even in garden décor. There's no time for moss to grow in the restless world of floricultural furnishings. You may have fond childhood memories of garden gnomes -- and perhaps they'll have their day in the sun again -- but right now, it's out with the gnomes and in with a statue of Buddha. It's the new American garden essential.

Kay Estey watches garden trends emerge. She produces the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. To her, one word describes the new American garden: sophistication. "People in the states have become just as sophisticated about gardening as the English and Europeans," she says.

The recent interest in garden décor is led by -- you guessed it -- the baby boomer generation. Boomers, in their great numbers, transform whatever they touch. They have traveled the world, seen its gardens, acquired cosmopolitan tastes and are lavishing money on their home turf, driving the market with their perennial interest in the environment, organics and natural stuff, and their newer interest in transforming homes into high-end cocoons.

Younger generations, too, have taken up gardening. "It's just taken off incredibly," Estey says. "As people get more sophisticated, it seems that the industry follows. Now there's the outdoor kitchen, the outdoor living room, the idea that the garden you create outside is another room in your house."

And like any well-appointed room, you need ways to embellish its natural beauty.
The biggest trends in garden art include the use of sculpture, bold color and recycled materials, Estey says.