Landscape Design
9 Garden Structures Offer Year-Round Interest
Add four-season appeal to beds and give vines a place to climb with one of these pretty garden elements
In winter, when beds are relatively bare, it can be a great time to take stock of your garden’s structure. When we talk about garden structure, we generally mean the evergreen shrubs and hedges and permanent hardscape elements, like stone walls. For this story, we’ll focus on the smaller structural elements of a garden.
From stately urns and elegant obelisks to humbler garden trellises, birdbaths and archways, the building blocks and decorative elements of a garden catch one’s eye far more in winter, when beds are quiet. Take a look at this list and then a look around your garden. Could you see adding one or more of these structural elements to your landscape?
From stately urns and elegant obelisks to humbler garden trellises, birdbaths and archways, the building blocks and decorative elements of a garden catch one’s eye far more in winter, when beds are quiet. Take a look at this list and then a look around your garden. Could you see adding one or more of these structural elements to your landscape?
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2. Metal Obelisks
Long used by English gardeners to add structure to overflowing perennial borders and kitchen gardens, metal obelisks are just as useful for adding interest to garden beds off-season. Try placing a single obelisk in an empty garden bed or at the end of a garden walkway to act as a focal point.
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Long used by English gardeners to add structure to overflowing perennial borders and kitchen gardens, metal obelisks are just as useful for adding interest to garden beds off-season. Try placing a single obelisk in an empty garden bed or at the end of a garden walkway to act as a focal point.
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In spring and summer, obelisks can be used to prop up taller perennials (plant them in the middle of the obelisk) or can act as trellises for smaller-scale vines, like dwarf sweet peas, sugar snap peas and runner beans, as shown in this design by Marian Boswall Landscape Architects.
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3. Stone Obelisks
If you like the pyramidal shape without the trellis function, look for solid stone obelisks to act as focal points for garden bed and patios. Here, Bill Mellett Design used a handsome stone obelisk mounted on a pillar to add height to a seasonal display of spring tulips in Santa Barbara, California. It would look elegant with just the boxwood edging when the garden is bare in winter.
If you like the pyramidal shape without the trellis function, look for solid stone obelisks to act as focal points for garden bed and patios. Here, Bill Mellett Design used a handsome stone obelisk mounted on a pillar to add height to a seasonal display of spring tulips in Santa Barbara, California. It would look elegant with just the boxwood edging when the garden is bare in winter.
4. Archways
Frame a garden view or mark the transition of one garden area to the next with a garden arch. The modern metal arbors from TerraTrellis seen here offer a more contemporary take on a traditional wooden arbor and look stunning on their own or draped in vines.
Frame a garden view or mark the transition of one garden area to the next with a garden arch. The modern metal arbors from TerraTrellis seen here offer a more contemporary take on a traditional wooden arbor and look stunning on their own or draped in vines.
5. Birdbaths
Substantial birdbaths, such as those made of stone or concrete, can also help add visual weight to the garden, acting as focal points as well as friendly spots where birds can take a dip.
In her own home garden in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, landscape designer Hilarie Holdsworth used a stone birdbath with a recirculating fountain to mark the center of a formal parterre. In spring, forget-me-nots fill in among the evergreen boxwoods and billow over stone bed edges, as shown here. In winter, the birdbath is emptied of water and the fountain disconnected, but the birdbath still stands as an attractive garden sculpture.
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Substantial birdbaths, such as those made of stone or concrete, can also help add visual weight to the garden, acting as focal points as well as friendly spots where birds can take a dip.
In her own home garden in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, landscape designer Hilarie Holdsworth used a stone birdbath with a recirculating fountain to mark the center of a formal parterre. In spring, forget-me-nots fill in among the evergreen boxwoods and billow over stone bed edges, as shown here. In winter, the birdbath is emptied of water and the fountain disconnected, but the birdbath still stands as an attractive garden sculpture.
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6. Wall-Mounted Trellises
While we often look for ways to make trellising disappear from view, these pretty painted frames offer another approach. In warm seasons the colorful trellis rims frame the vines, while in bare months the color is a welcome addition to an otherwise blank fence.
While we often look for ways to make trellising disappear from view, these pretty painted frames offer another approach. In warm seasons the colorful trellis rims frame the vines, while in bare months the color is a welcome addition to an otherwise blank fence.
7. Espalier Supports
Espaliered and pleached trees, which are trained into different shapes on a frame, can be surprisingly attractive in winter gardens. In this snow-dusted London backyard, a pleached hornbeam trained to a horizontal wood trellis forms a division between two garden areas and adds height and visual interest whether or not it’s leafed out.
Espaliered and pleached trees, which are trained into different shapes on a frame, can be surprisingly attractive in winter gardens. In this snow-dusted London backyard, a pleached hornbeam trained to a horizontal wood trellis forms a division between two garden areas and adds height and visual interest whether or not it’s leafed out.
8. Metal Globes
These simple, classic metal orbs fit in with a range of garden styles and provide interest year-round. Here, they add a bit of whimsy in the graveled front yard of a low-water garden in Northern California’s wine country designed by Katharine Webster.
These simple, classic metal orbs fit in with a range of garden styles and provide interest year-round. Here, they add a bit of whimsy in the graveled front yard of a low-water garden in Northern California’s wine country designed by Katharine Webster.
9. Stone Cairns
Landscape designer Donald Pell shows us another idea for garden sculpture with this winter view in Pennsylvania. A slightly curved pyramid of dark and russet-colored stones gives weight to garden beds in winter and forms a dark backdrop for perennials in warmer months.
Tell us: Have you used any attractive trellising, garden sculpture or other structural elements in your garden? Show us in the Comments.
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Landscape designer Donald Pell shows us another idea for garden sculpture with this winter view in Pennsylvania. A slightly curved pyramid of dark and russet-colored stones gives weight to garden beds in winter and forms a dark backdrop for perennials in warmer months.
Tell us: Have you used any attractive trellising, garden sculpture or other structural elements in your garden? Show us in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Tour other inspiring gardens
Browse thousands of landscape photos
Work with a landscape architect near you
Shop for outdoor products
You don’t have to think only about traditional garden gates if you’re looking to add visual interest to your landscape. Here, Washington landscape designer Le jardinet used a freestanding gateway to add structure to a soft landscape palette of ornamental grasses, dwarf pines and perennials. The gateway — made of wood posts, thick rope and metal arches — looks particularly stunning in winter when edged with frost. In warmer months it could support garden vines.