Focal Points

We are like minded Meadow, thank you for sharing your thoughts, what you say echoes my ideas too. I have reservations about size and scale too, I hope there is a simple solution haha

Maybe something as simple as a nice seat with a semicircle of old bricks in front of it and a nice urn on either side , just a thought your garden has so much to offer in its own right Dawn .. Dawn I completely forgot to ask our son about his willow growing info .. I'm so sorry ,I will do ,we spent a lot of time catching up with family at Christmas and arguing about politics Grrrrrrr .

Hello Amy, no worries, next time :-). Politics haha, I've really got into it just lately lol.
Yes a bench is always a good one ! Probably I don't need ornamental focal points? Just the natural ones? I don't know.
I would love a chainsaw carved owl or something using tree trunk.

I agree for the most part. Too many chachkies in the garden (or the house even) can be distracting and tacky, however I've also seen certain elements used tastefully that create a mood or theme - an old vintage bicycle, wagon, water pump, oak barrel for example. Even a birdhouse can be a focal point. A bird condominium? Here's a link that shows what I mean:

https://www.pinterest.com/bonniefh/fabulous-focal-points/

Thanks Bathgate, I have viewed, now they are classy, just the things I like :-)

Dawn reading Amy’s comments really made me laugh...... we have a bench under a Griselinia arch(created by us) with a semi circle of bricks in front of it, and two urns, one either side which we plant up all year.......
If you look at Alan Ts garden he has some very interesting sculptures..... also Michael Heseltine in his wonderful garden.....
It’s about finding a happy medium really, also you have to love the piece that you want to add to the garden, whether it be a statue, sundial, arch etc.... we have several arches, but they are there to take you on a journey around the garden...... my OH is not really too keen on some of my quirky bits and pieces, so I have to be careful......
I say give it a go, if you don’t like where it is, keep moving it around until you do, anything goes these days!

That is funny Dotty/Amy, spooky.
Yes I have Alan's T book Secret Garden, I got it after you said you had it, oh yes he has some great sculptures including Peter Pan :-) yes I saw Michael H's grand garden in a magazine!!
My OH is like yours, he hates quirky garden ornaments, however he did make me a giant armillary! I can't have arches really as it's so open. I'm going to look on Pinterest :-)

It can depend on what kind of garden you have? A formal one can be enhanced by some kind of ornament as a focal point but a more relaxed one can be content with some kind of vista - a path or broader alleyway leading to a view. I reckon less is more and one dramatic thing is a lot more effective than several little ones. So much depends on what it is and where you put it!
If you have child visitors then small animal ones can be a delight to "discover". The thing ids, does an ornament delight you - that's all that matters really!

But thinking about your photos Dawn I don't think you can improve on yours just as it is!

Something that always frustrates me is that my garden always looks better from one side

Stera, I get what you're saying. I do have vistas so they are probably enough? My garden is very relaxed, I would probably do better to have some eye catchers, like the multi stemmed betula doorenbos :-)
Why does one side of yours look better than the other? Is it the aspect ofr planting.

Hmmm...I love statues, but mostly the ones that cost hundreds! And modern arty pieces too, especially those Slate balls, copper globes, and metal deer etc...the ones you see at Chelsea. I’ll never have them, they are too pricey. I think a trio of good obelisks would make a great focal point. I also love an arch. Even a piece of good topiary makes a cracking focal point Dawn. What about building your own Cairn from local stones collected over time? Or a pebble tower. There’s loads you can do. Seating makes a good focal point too. An inviting spot for a pause and a cuppa. You know what I’m like ...my garden is focal-point central!! I can hardly get a yard without some focal point interrupting the path! Lol! Out of my back door it goes table and chairs, arch, table and chairs, Garden Pod, table and chairs, contemplation corner, patio with water-feature, Garden Arch, Hammock, Pond, Arbour seat, heuchera corner with statues....lol! I need to stop!

Dawn I think if you like something, have it. It doesn't matter if other people think it's 'tacky' or anything else. As long as you like it that's all that matters.

Different people like different things, have different opinions, and have different tastes. You may put a statue in a certain place in your garden and one person will say it looks lovely, but another may think it's totally unsuitable.
But in the end it is your garden so have what 'you' like. E.G. if you like statues, have statues. If you don't, don't.
And if you like your garden as it is - relaxed and informal, then maybe you should just leave it like that.

Personally I don't like a garden that is too designed. In my opinion those gardens look stiff and artificial. However someone else may think the opposite. It's all a matter of taste.

As Stera says, it depends on what type of garden you have. My back garden has a formal vista from the living room with an box pyramid in a planter at the far end. But there's a path that runs across the garden at ninety degrees - should that have focal points as well? I suppose it has - Bruno and Barney, the two bears waving to each other! Is that tacky?

Like Karen, we have several benches in our garden, very useful on our open days, but, we do use them at different times of the day, morning coffee on one, afternoon tea on another, pond watching on another, and under the pergola if it’s very hot!...we also love terracotta planters, several bird baths, a few urns, a sundial, obelisks, oh and lots of driftwood, and it’s all done in the best possible taste! Lol!
So it’s no good asking me about focal points is it😀😀😀😀

Karen, Hywel, Andrew, Dotty - thank you.
You've all been very helpful and given me lots of food for thought!
I have a clearer idea now of what to do which is probably to use natural focal points, unless I find something that hits the spot.

Dawn...what about getting a few Ducks...the ‘domestic’ ones..then you’ll have a moving focal point, and no slugs!

I would love some but I know the fox would be an issue, my dear dad kept various livestock and I just couldn't deal with keeping them safe.
The wild ones come and go and we have a permanent family of moorhens, they leave the pond and come towards the house to clear up under the bird feeders several times a day. 2 parents, 2 babies from this year. I rescued one baby from our cat in the summer, it was as limp as a lettuce leaf so I put it inside my fleece for an hour to keep it warm and once I felt it moving I returned to the pond to reunite with it's family, it was totally unharmed phew

Aw..how lovely. We are both mad bird rescuing women! X

Dawn it isn't that one side of the garden looks better than the other. What surprises me is that if I plant a bed to be seen from the front, it always looks better to me when seen from one end. But before long it will really need reorganising altogether to make it more manageable as my energy gets less as the weeds get more prolific...

Karen: Do you still have your windmill with the spoons? It looks like spoons. I love quirky things like that. It looks wonderful when it catches the wind and spins spins spins. Now what's better than spinning spoons? Loved it!

I do Bathgate, but as always, the stem broke so now it is very short. But yes, still going!

I think a focal point should be in a pot or on a stand, then you can move it around and look at it from different angles on different days.

I'm sure that rich Victorians had a member of staff to do just that. Off to check the census for any of my ancestors working as a "Focal point mover" :-)

Haha Andrew