About two years ago I was looking thru photos of television stars garden. At the entrance to the paths of her garden I noticed she had meticulously place concrete orbs. I liked the way they seem to indicate a path. Almost saying you should walk thru here. The ones she had were slightly larger, but then again she had a much larger garden.
We have these concrete balls sporadically placed throughout the garden. At corners of beds…
The base of trellises…
Marking the entrance to other paths…
I’ve had so many questions about them I thought I would do a post. I didn’t make these, we purchased them. When I first starting looking for some concrete balls for the garden I was astounded by how expensive they were, most especially the terracotta ones. Well, one day I was over at our favorite garden statue place when I notice a heap of broken concrete pieces. I asked Mr. Johnson what it was and he replied just a bunch of old junk. One of the things that Mr. Johnson makes is concrete post caps. If he forgets to put the wire in them the ball snaps off or cracks at the neck and they can’t be used for anything. Of course my thrift eye spotted the balls in the pile and I asked him how much he would charge for them. He told me I could have them for free. Well, this man works very hard for his money and we insisted that we should pay him at least a little something for them, so he agreed to take 2 dollars a post cap. We took them home, I took a hammer and busted the square piece off the bottom and voila, we had our garden orbs.
I just push the little neck stub in the dirt and there we have our very inexpensive garden balls. Now you know our secret, they are just broke post caps. :-)
16 comments:
You lucky duck you! I really like the looks of these...ever thought about painting any of them?
I've noticed them too and think they look so nice. Next time I stop by a statuary place, think I'll go round back and look in the rubbish heap:)
Marnie
I like. Something else to look for in my travels.
They make interesting garden art. How neat how you found them - nice man to want to give them to you.
You lucky duck for such a great find. Isn't it funny how one man's junk is another man's treasure. I love the look of them defining path entrances. They are most welcoming.
How clever! One would never know. Your garden is truly a paradise. Carla
Smart, smart boy you are !! They look wonderful , and to get hem for a song....makes them even better ! Gina
You are quite clever & thrifty! :)
Very cool. I saw a garden in PA where the artist had used glass orbs throughout the garden. I like smaller pieces like this - you can move them around to suit your mood.
Awesome deal! They look fabulous.
You are just so smart, Randy.. Your garden is fabulous. Lucky guy to get those concrete balls..... Now--that's what I call CREATIVE...
Betsy
Great orbs! I have seen the expensive ones and you were lucky to find the deal!
Cameron in France and trying to keep up with blogs
Wow, are you lucky! Those look really nice and I like where you've placed them. Your garden is really looking in top shape, by the way!
We haven't been to visit Mr. Johnson this year, but once and surely hope that he'll flub on some more post caps. Isn't that terrible of me?
--Jamie
I really like the orbs! I have a few scattered about the garden as well. However, whenever I have found them they are pretty costly. So your good eye and the gentleman's good nature was a wonderful combination!
Such a deal! And they look great too!
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