Always on the Right Path: Signs and Waymarkers in the Garden

"Loving garden design is much more than just planting flowers, shrubs, fruits, and vegetables. An attractive garden, in addition to beautiful plants, always hosts decorative elements that reflect the personality of its owners and complete the garden's composition.

Wise sayings and kind words on garden fences, gates, and trellises can invite thought and meditation, and help garden visitors feel better as they pass by.

But signs in the garden can do even more; they don't just inform visitors that the master of the house spends his leisure hours in the garden, that a playful dog is waiting for ball-throwing victims, or who's boss here."

"Enamel signs can also be decorative waymarkers within the garden. Individual garden areas like rose beds, the pond zone, or even the vegetable garden gain a special flair when they are clearly announced by lovingly designed signs.

Plant labels in front of individual plants provide information about which herb is growing there and what it's used for. In this way, diligent hands in monastery gardens have ensured order and knowledge for many centuries.

The relevant specialized trade offers a wide variety of signs accordingly. Whether made of wood, plastic, metal, or clay, there's something for every taste. But anyone who thinks that such garden signs must be old-fashioned is mistaken. Creative crafting enthusiasts label old CDs with paint pens, use LED-illuminated waymarkers, or weld modern sign lettering into oxidized sheet metal.

If you want to make your own garden signs, you can do so, for example, by using aluminum trays or latex baking molds as casting molds. Special additives make commercially available plaster weather-stable, and the whole family can help with painting. If desired, you can cast wooden sticks directly into the sign, making it especially easy to stick into the ground."

"But even self-made pottery signs that have been painted and glazed can make charming garden signs for years. With the help of holes, they're quickly hung up, and a special tube on the backside can give a stick the necessary support.

If you prefer a rustic look, you can also label roof tiles or slate tablets and set them up or hang them in the garden as signs."