"Distressed" garden ornaments

I am a person who does not "do" ornaments, inside or out. However, I am feeling desperate enough to consider one in a space I have struggled for 24 summers to grow something in. It is part of a raised bed under a dense oak canopy with a giant fatsia alongside. It is very dry and has very low light. A few plants just about survive there, but they don't put on growth at all and I eventually relocate them. Interestingly, no weed has ever taken advantage of the space and even a little ivy has taken about 8 yrs to bulk up by a few inches.

I would leave it empty if it were not in my direct line of vision from the sofa. Ideally I would love something with white flowers that would shine out, but I can't bring myself to get some fake ones and real ones won't survive. So, I am thinking of a light ornament and I have found these.

Set Of 3 Antique Sage Green Decoratrive Garden Spheres decorations distressed | eBay

(The seller has them on their own website slightly cheaper, but I couldn't paste a link.)

Now, my question is this. I don't really like the distressed, shabby-chic look and I don't want a lump of rusting metal in my garden. Could I paint these to smarten them up and would that prevent rust forming? Or is rust inevitable? Would ordinary metal paint work or is there special stuff for things outside braving the elements?

 

Hammerite/Smoothrite was always good.

 

@ViewAhead
‘Hammerite’ would be my suggestion. Hard wearing, available in about 10 basic colours last time I used it and in either smooth or hammered finish, like orange peel (looks better than it probably sounds)
Painting the inside of the smaller sphere is going to be tricky whatever you use.
Do them somewhere that you can tie them up whilst you paint them such as to a joist in the garage or similar.

 

Excellent! Thank you.

 

How dark is your very low light @ViewAhead? I've been surprised at how adaptable Erigeron Karvinskianus is around my garden, including shady places. I think you grow it too. Could you try it in a container perhaps? If not, I like your alternative!

 

I have tried things in containers, so I can up the moisture level, but even plants that allegedly like deep shade struggle, eg carex, ferns, ivy, etc. Some epimediums are coping at the front, but behind these, hemmed in by fence and fatsia, and overhung by low oak (protected, so untrimmable), even weeds object! I can't bear to watch things being miserable.

 

Shame you don't like those open spheres in a rusted finish, it makes them look a lot softer in the landscape. For painting you should be able to disassemble and make the job much easier. They are usually held together with a bolt.

 

Is there space to make a border or an island bed in front of the raised bed, away from the canopy and root zone of the oak, so that the bare area is masked from your sofa viewpoint?

 

The only problem then is symmetry, @JennyJB. My garden design ( big word, little plot) relies on straight lines for the structure, with the plants adding the waves. So the raised bed is a mirror image of one at the top of the garden at the other side, with 2 other offset raised beds along the long edges and two bits of lawn and bed offset within that in L-shapes, all joined by a gravelled bit that leads from top to bottom visiting all the beds and crossing side to side staggered 3 times. Which all sounds very complicated, but it works in a garden 3 times longer than wide. If the raised bed wasn't there and it wasn't 18" tall, the "gap" to be filled would be at ground level and not noticeable with all the other plants between my sofa and it. However, as the dark, hollow space is exactly at eye-level, it draws my gaze.

@amancalledgeorge, I might try them as they are and see how they look, but wanted to know about paint just in case de-distressing them proves necessary.

 

Ah I see. I don't think of symmetry in a garden because mine is all shapes that don't lend themselves to formal symmetrical designs.

If the ornament you're thinking of doesn't work out, maybe something could be hung from the lower branches of the tree if that's allowed on a protected tree - bird feeders, dreamcatchers, whatever to break up the visual "hole". Or maybe have a structure underneath if the branches aren't too low - fancy compost bin that looks like a beehive, snazzy bug hotel, whatever takes your fancy.

 

Hi @ViewAhead , could you fit in a small pond?

I had a corner where nothing grew and dug in a cheapy pre-formed pond. It's now the favourite spot for birds and as it is mostly shaded, there are no algae problems. I only have oxygenating plants and rocks in it, plus a small solar fountain.

 

I love the idea, @Selleri, but I think birds would avoid it as there is a lot of cover and fence top for a cat to sit on ... and a new, very predatory one has moved in nearby. Plus, huge amounts of leaf litter and sticky gung from the oak would fall in all the time.

 

A snazzy bug hotel might work very well! Currently I have put a small mirror there, within the frame of an old, white, globe-shaped lampshade, and that really has brightened it up.

 

So, a little reluctant to share this for fear of gales of laughter reaching me across the ether, but this is my experiment so far! Obviously only temporary as not really weatherproof, but it's the sort of effect I am after.

 

Now that I see the picture, I think I would put something in a big container standing on the gravel area. Maybe a variegated or golden-leafed shrub of some sort.