Garden Surround Ideas

Mosaic Stones

• If you're tired of your stone border but don't have a big budget to update your garden, try giving the existing stones a mosaic makeover. Either pull out some old ceramic tiles and china or get some at a flea market. Break them up with a rubber mallet (wear goggles) and glue them to the tops of the stones with tile glue. Press grout between them and have a bright separation between your garden and yard. You also can use sea glass, glass vase stones, or pieces of broken terra cotta pots as mosaic fodder. Update stone and brick retaining walls the same way.

Twig Stakes

• A tiny budget doesn't mean your garden has to look ordinary. Pick up as many twigs and branches as you can; look for variety in bark patterns and sizes. Cut them all to approximately the same length and sharpen the ends to points. Pound them into the ground along a straight or weaving path around your garden. This gives your garden a rustic, colonial feel.

  If you get tired of pounding stakes into the ground side-by-side, space them about 6 inches apart. Find some flexible willow branches and weave them in and out of the stakes to create a small fence.

Wine Bottles

• Wine lovers often save their bottles for the elegant lines and the decorative labels. When your bottle collection becomes too big, relegate some of them to the garden. Turn them upside down and bury each bottle up to the shoulders in the soil. You may either remove the labels or leave them in place. Either way, your garden will have a glittering old world feel.