by Lorraine Syratt

It's gardening time again. The garden has become an extension of the home and homeowners are decorating their gardens with the same thought that goes into decorating their living spaces.

Adorning garden areas with antiques and vintage items related to gardening has become all the rage. But it’s important to remember the decorating rule “less is more,” because it’s easy to get carried away with all the wonderful old treasures easily foraged.

For a funky garden, don’t shy away from items with a little rust, like a mid-century bistro set, old colorful watering cans, wheel barrows, iron gates, and metal chairs. These can all be found for less than $100. Old watering cans will average about $25. In the 80’s these items were being sent to landfill sites and now they are highly sought after.

For more traditional garden decor, invest in antique cement urns or statues. They can be very pricey, but they’ll add old-world elegance to the garden. Artisans are remaking many of the old designs and it’s easy to add age to cement by painting a little buttermilk on some areas of the piece and sprinkling crumpled moss over it. Moss can be found naturally on boulders or fallen tree trunks in the woods.

Other great antique garden decor items might include vintage gardening tools collected and hung on the outside of the shed wall. Most can be found for less than $20 and a full wall of vintage colorful tools makes a delightful collection.

With the interest in gardening growing every year, so has the hunt for garden antiques and the prices are rising considerably for some items. But there are still deals to be found at country auctions, flea markets, yard sales, barn sales, antique shops and antique malls.

A visit to a favorite haunt may offer something for that finishing touch to your garden.