Adorn your garden with clocks, bikes, fountains and more

By Lynn Taylor Rick, Journal Staff | Saturday, May 05, 2007

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RAPID CITY — In January, Lori Anderson stocked Heritage Nursery with several of this season’s hot item for yard decor: clocks.

Last week, there were only three left in her store.

“They’re putting them in their garden beds, their back decks,” she said of her customers.

The new outdoor clocks come in various sizes and are either stand-alone or a mounted style. Aside from telling time, some also give temperature, barometric pressure and even humidity levels.

Anderson believes people like the clocks because they give lawns a stylish and classic appeal. “They’re made of high quality durable materials that aren’t going to blow away,” she said. “And the look is high class. It’s very classy.”

In addition to the clocks, Anderson expects the free-standing lanterns to also be popular this season.

Although the clocks and lanterns are leading the pack in yard decor trends, there are plenty of other items that garden stores expect to be popular this season.

- Bistro sets: Jolly Lane Greenhouse owner Tim Sime said bistro sets, or small pieces of yard furniture, continue to be a popular trend in yard decor.

The bistro sets offer people a spot to relax in an informal setting. “It’s small and they can place it in areas where they sit and enjoy their garden,” he said.

- Junk: That’s right. People are turning their lovable junk into garden decor, a trend Anderson noticed growing last year.

Anderson began visiting auctions and buying up old bikes, trikes and scooters. She even bought old shoes, in which people planted flowers.

“People were going nuts for that stuff,” she said. “I think people like that old vintage garden motif.”

- Fountains: Fountains, particularly the slate fountains, continue to be popular, Anderson said. “Slate fountains have been the biggest seller,” she said.

Fountains range in size and style, but people continue to love them for their tranquil look and sound. “Fountains are still a fairly attractive product to people,” Sime said.

- Ponds: In addition to fountains, ponds are a water feature that continues to grow in popularity. “Water garden features, for us, are a very big interest area,” Sime said.

- Upscale plants: Sime said that although people continue to plant hardy and common plants in their yards, more people are willing to splurge on a few high-end plants to spice up their yards.

“I think that more than just what’s new is having a landscape that’s more than your core plant items, including the fun little different plant materials,” he said.

All together, though, Sime believes that the garden decorations will continue to be the draw this season, adding a little something extra to yards and gardens.

“In general, people want to incorporate the hard good items into their landscape. Plants are at the core, but they want a lot of other things to enhance it,” he said.

Gardeners’ helpers

In addition to lawn decorations, there are some tools and gadgets for gardeners that are must-haves this year, including:

- Ergonomic tools. Anderson has stocked a wide array of ergonomic tools, designed to ease the potential pains of yard work. There are weeding tools with long handles, allowing gardeners to stay on their feet, and hand trowels designed to prevent excessive muscle strain.

- Timers. Anderson hopes that timers will be a popular item this year. The timers can be attached to yard hoses, allowing homeowners without automatic sprinklers to limit their watering time.

“I think everybody should have one of these,” Anderson said.

- Topsy Turvys. Don’t have a garden to grow those tomatoes? The Topsy Turvy tomato plants might be the answer, Anderson said.

The Topsy Turvy upside down plant hangers allow tomatoes to be grown, upside down, while hanging from a deck or patio. The plants grow up and around the outside of the hanger and toward the sun.