8 Easy Ways to Decorate Your Garden

From yards and terraces to patios and porches, these easy decorating ideas can work for any spot you plan to improve.

1. Use Ornaments as Finishings

Much more than an afterthought, garden ornaments can guide how you shape and use your outdoor space, and affect how it feels when you're in it. A wrought-iron gate can mark the entrance to a world of green, a tree-hung lantern raise your perspective, a curved bench inspire a nap. Carefully placed, pretty yet practical, these elements offer subtle but effective clues: Turn here. Look up. Slow down. They also give a garden space a finished look in all four seasons. The trick is to not overdo it.

2. Patio Primer

Give your outdoor space a fresh face by sticking to a monochromatic palette. You can pull off a polished look without overdoing it. Choose the essential pieces (wirework round table, umbrella, stools) in a contemporary gray and white color scheme.

3. Repeat Your Home's Exterior Style

Whatever the style of your home, ornaments can carry it into the landscape, grounding the building in its setting.

4. Natural Charm

Got space? Reimagine a room—one without walls, that is. Create an intimate gathering space that's prepped for entertaining by surrounding the table with a wicker sofa, freestanding umbrella, and fire pit.

5. Tie Furnishings Into the Overall Scheme

The style of any tables and chairs you choose has a big impact on the look of your outdoor spaces, of course. But they should also feel cohesive with the other decorative objects and materials you use.

6. Garden Party

Dining alfresco is about gathering family, entertaining friends, and escaping from your typical daily routine. Any rules to follow? Be smart about your outdoor style and choose weather-resistant furniture, coverage from the sun, and a solid base for setting up your table.

7. Take Lighting to Another Level

Many landscapes are most romantic after dark—by the glow of the moon and when well-placed electric lights spotlight trees and light up paths.

8. Use Plants Themselves as Ornaments

Certain plants are inherently architectural or can be pruned to look that way. Among those naturally shaped to give the gardens guiding lines are Italian cypresses, which rise like green columns against the Bealls' hillside views. Others include the rosettes of Agave attenuate that tumble around stone stairways and fountains in dynamic contrast to the ramrod-straight cypress.