Materials
The most common materials for making garden figurines are plaster, wood, concrete, natural stone, polystone and metal. Plant sculptures – topiaries – are also gaining popularity.
Each of these materials has its pros and cons. To make the right choice when purchasing a product, you should know their main characteristics. Even more ideas about landscape design can be found on this website: https://landshaftblog.ru/
Plaster sculptures are quite fragile and require careful care to maintain their structure. The advantage of the material is its low price and the ability to use it at home for making figures yourself.
It is important to remember that when making large plaster figures, you will need a metal frame and base of the product to enhance their stability.
Wood is used to create unusual, living compositions. The material is easily accessible and easy to process. To prevent your wooden sculpture from rotting, the appearance of parasites and fungus, treat it with special chemical compounds at least once a year, and then cover it with varnish or paint of your choice.
A good solution would be to put the sculpture away in the winter in a garage or any other room without strong temperature changes and high humidity.
Concrete is a very strong material with an interesting structure. It is suitable for independent work and has a fairly affordable price. To prevent a concrete sculpture from falling apart in a couple of years from exposure to temperature and humidity changes, it is important to renew its protective coating more often.
To make sculptures from natural stone, granite and marble are usually used - beautiful, wear-resistant materials. They emphasize the high status of the owner of the products. These types of stone are very expensive and are only suitable for classic or antique garden designs.
A more budget-friendly option is sandstone products. They are quite strong and durable, and their price is much lower.
Behind the unusual name polystone lies an artificial stone based on acrylic resin. Due to the fact that the material is completely homogeneous, has no microcracks and pores, polystone products are not exposed to moisture, frost and direct sunlight.
Another advantage is the ability to manufacture products with small details - thanks to their excellent strength, the sculptures will last for more than one season without damage.
Metal sculptures are rarely used on private plots. Most often, copper and bronze are used to create figures, durable and impressive-looking metals. A well-designed, exquisite composition made of bronze is far from a cheap choice, but such decoration will last for decades without losing its attractiveness.
Thanks to proper pruning, a living shrub or tree can become a garden sculpture. Previously, we could only see photos of these garden sculptures in Western magazines and catalogs. Now there is an opportunity to invite a professional who, thanks to careful, correct trimming of the crown, will create the figure you specified for a lot of money, or you can do similar work yourself.
It is enough to make a frame of the required size and shape with your own hands, fill it with high-quality soil and plant plant seeds in it. After the seeds sprout, you just need to prune the plants, maintaining the shape of the sculpture.
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The range of garden sculptures is varied. The designs vary in size and configuration. The figures depicting representatives of the animal world look attractive. Images of people, geometric shapes, and abstract objects look original.
Different materials are used in production. Lately, sculptures of a creative nature have become popular. They are made from plastic bottles, car tires, stumps, snags and stones. Photos of garden sculptures are beautiful and original. Seeing the figures live looks even more attractive.
Plaster sculptures
To make a product from plaster, you must have:
- Dry plaster
- Water
- PVA glue
- Moisture resistant glue
- Paraffin or Vaseline
- sifted clay
- Waterproof paints (preferably acrylic)
Plaster is well suited for “cloning” existing sculptures. First, a mixture is made from clay and water into which the existing product will be pressed. Adjust its thickness so that the mixture is elastic, does not flow and is not too dry. Make an impression of the desired product on both sides and leave to dry for a day.
Do not place clay casts in the sun - rapid drying will cause the clay to burst, which will render the cast unusable. If small cracks occur, you can cover them with plasticine.
After the clay has dried, it is necessary to prepare a gypsum solution with the consistency of thick sour cream. So that the figure can please you much longer, replace 10-20% of the water with PVA glue - this will make the solution much stronger. Lubricate both casts from the inside with paraffin or Vaseline (this will help you easily pull out the halves of the sculpture), then pour plaster there.
Leave the plaster to dry in a warm room for a day. Afterwards, treat the unevenness and roughness at the joints and connect them with waterproof glue. After this, you can start decorating the figure.
Advantages and disadvantages
Garden decor solves a number of problems:
- Contribute to the formation of walking routes by laying a path around the structure. The path may end with a sculpture.
- Decorate your garden plot in an original way.
- They help eliminate monotony in the landscape, which is beneficial in winter.
- Helps to form a site in a single style.
- Focus on a specific area in the garden area.
- Help to recreate a special atmosphere in the garden.
- Allows you to change the proportions of the plot. With the help of polished samples that reflect light, the territory is visually expanded.
- By installing the structure on a pedestal, errors made during the planning process are corrected.
- The site is divided into several zones using sculptural elements. This solution also helps to hide unsightly places.
If the sculptures are chosen incorrectly, the garden becomes ugly. To improve the beauty of the site, you should carefully view it so that one structure is visible from any point. Otherwise, it will lead to oversupply and oversaturation.
Wooden sculptures
To create a wooden product you need:
- Wooden blank of the required size
- Woodworking tools
- Fine sandpaper
- Impregnations against parasites, mold and rot
- Primer
- Paint or varnish
For beginners, blanks made from trees such as pine or birch are well suited - they are easy to process and at the same time quite durable.
Here you can turn on your imagination and cut out whatever you want from wood - flowers, animal figures or fairy-tale creatures. The main thing is the final processing of the product.
Impregnate the wood with compounds against mold and parasites, prime it and only after that apply paint - this will help preserve the fruit of your efforts for many seasons.
Don't be afraid to experiment with materials, shapes and processing methods. A little imagination and free time will help make your garden a small fairy-tale island that will delight others with its beauty and originality.
Concrete also serves art
Quite durable statues that can last a long time can be made from concrete. Casting is used as a manufacturing method in this case. The base material is applied to the frame, some wire bent in the desired shape, or a pipe. Then it is aligned with your hands along the contour.
The pigment can be immediately added to the solution, then the sculpture is sculpted immediately painted. Or you can paint the finished statue later, after the concrete has hardened.
Using paint, it is possible to create an imitation of natural materials: marble, granite, wood.
At the end of the work, all unnecessary elements are removed from the sculpture. Then the sculpture is treated with an anti-corrosion agent. This statue will last for several decades. You can build castles from concrete, create bas-reliefs, and various figures.
What are sculptures and statues and how did they appear in landscape design?
Garden sculptures began to be used to decorate the site in ancient times. Already in antiquity, statues depicting ancient heroes, plants, and animals were used to decorate the territory. They personify the wealth and well-being of homeowners.
The sculpture of Ancient Greece began in the 7th century BC. She became an ideal for future times. It was customary to install sculptures of Ancient Rome in the gardens of the patricians.
The popularity of such figures continued in the Middle Ages. They could be seen in the gardens and houses of rich people, who personified beauty and prosperity and set the style of the house. Many great sculptors had a hand in this type of creativity.
In Russia, such architecture became popular during the time of Peter the Great. Many people tried to decorate their gardens with statues of ancient Greek gods, figurines of gnomes, and animals. Art sculpture has not lost its popularity in our time. People buy such statues for their dachas and gardens.
Polystone - a fashionable accent in the garden
Luxurious summer garden sculptures are made from polystone, acrylic stone with many advantages:
- the material is resistant to climatic influences: does not react to moisture or temperature changes;
- not afraid of mechanical damage;
- statues and figures made of polystone are made without seams, the product has high aesthetic characteristics and does not lose color;
- polymer stone has less weight compared to its natural counterpart;
- garden decorations made of polystone are easily attached to surfaces made of various compositions; for this, cement glue is used.
Polymer products have an affordable price and can decorate an area with any stylistic design.
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Popular figures in landscape design
There are four varieties that have become popular in modern design art. They are designed depending on the stylistic decision:
For the classical style, it is recommended to use sculptures depicting a Greek deity or hero, as well as a mythical character from the Roman era. For classics, figurines depicting animals and people are used. Usually they are placed on pedestals, flower beds, alleys, and lawns are decorated with similar compositions.
The modern style also looks attractive. Geometric shapes are usually used for it. A creative approach is possible when installing balls, squares, and cubic compositions. Shocking abstractions depicting the blurry outlines of people in love and mystical animals also look attractive.
For eco-style, statues depicting birds and animals are usually used. The appearance of such figures is harmonious; they look attractive among green plant crops. It is customary to place figures of ducks, herons/storks or turtles near small ponds and waterfalls. You can install fish in the reservoirs themselves. In the eco-direction, a hut, a miniature house, a hut on chicken legs attracts attention.
The popularity of ethnic style is growing every year. He significantly expands the world of sculptures with statues depicting Indian or Chinese deities. To give originality to a sculptural group, it is customary to complement it with mosaic compositions made using colored stones. This contributes to the correct placement of accents.
The types of sculpture are usually selected depending on the financial well-being of the owner of the site. Everyone will be able to choose the most suitable option for themselves.
Which topic to choose?
The choice of topic is determined by taste preferences:
- For a garden in the style of the archaic period, they select figurines of mythical characters and imaginary animals. You can also select sculptures depicting gods and heroes.
- Compositions of angels, girls, and boys are suitable for the world of the Gauls.
- It is customary to select sculptures that depict vegetables, gnomes, workers and much more.
Each option looks original and stylish. It will look attractive in the garden.
