Thrifty Ideas for Yard Decorations

Seashells

• Craft stores often sell inexpensive seashells for decorating. Alternatively, find seashells at the beach and pay nothing for decorating a yard with seashells. Use large seashells to accent the edges of a garden or even as planters for small flowers. Crush up small seashells to mulch small flower or tree beds. Another option for crushed seashells is to cover garden pathways. Buying enough seashells for such a project could be expensive. Instead, have friends and family help collect enough seashells for a walkway.

Wooden Buckets

• Decorating a yard with wooden buckets takes only as many buckets as you need, some soil and flowers. Place the bucket upright, fill it with soil and place some flowers in the soil. Another method is to cut the bucket in half lengthwise. Take each half of the bucket and lay it on the lawn with the cut half facing down. Place some soil slightly under and in front of the openings of the bucket halves. Then, place flowers in the soil coming out of the front of the bucket. Do not place flowers under the bucket. They will not get sunlight.

Wheelbarrows

• Look for an old-fashioned wheelbarrow at a thrift store or yard sale. Also, ask around to see if anyone you know has an old wheelbarrow to discard. Once you have a wheelbarrow, place it in on an area of the lawn that gets enough sunlight for a flowerbed. Fill the wheelbarrow with soil and plant flowers in it. Alternatively, plant vine flowers, such as morning glory, in a bed below the wheelbarrow and allow them to grow up it.

Rocks

• Search for decorative rocks at the local beach or park. Keep any rocks found in the yard. Place the largest of these rocks in flowerbeds with small statues of gnomes or animals sitting on top of them. Use the medium-sized rocks to line flowerbeds or the bases of trees. Make a rock garden with the small to medium-sized rocks you find. To make a rock garden, dig out the area, removing the grass and leaving the soil beneath exposed. Cover the entire area with rocks.