In the past I've been fairly vocal in my disapproval about garden statues and adornments. Primarily when it concerns things like gazing balls and garden gnomes - though I'm not sure "garden" and "gnomes" should be used in the same phrase - a gardening oxymoron if ever there were one. And perhaps I've been a little misunderstood.

I'm certainly not against adorning your garden with knick-knacks, garden statues or other embellishments, I just loathe the ones that really suck. What I've come to understand over the years is that the most repulsive ones can actually work in other gardens quite well - they just look darn ugly in the one they're currently occupying.

So where do gardeners fail in their quest to make their garden more than just plants, flowers and practical living spaces? Well, let's discuss the 5 main reasons why garden adornments suck and how they could be improved to take your garden to the next level.

Disproportional Adornment

I love garden statues like these that are found in many public gardens throughout the world. It's a typical setting where a statue becomes the focal point in the midst of a fountain or water feature and it's sheer size grabs your attention and holds you breathless like a rogue bouncer about to throw you out of the pub - not that that's ever happened to me, I just read about it in a book!

The problem occurs when gardeners become enamoured with such a setting that they try to recreate it in their own garden. It can work but most gardeners fail to take into account the size and proportions at play here in a large garden.

Two results usually occur when no credit has been given to this very obvious factor. Firstly, the gardener will try to keep similar grandeur effects but contain it within a block of land smaller than a few allotments. Or, they will try to create something much smaller, while retaining the proportions, and the statue will get lost or look completely insignificant.

The answer is to scale the statue by a smaller ratio than the water feature or fountain. In other words, the size of the statue in relation to the rest of the scene will look larger and still manage to keep it as the focal point without sacrificing the complete picture.

What are drawing attention to?

As garden statues go, this one would certainly be high in the rankings but it has one factor letting it down. The problem with this is that it draws your attention away from the garden to look at a piece of art rather than the sculpture itself drawing your focus towards the garden. Sure, it has a few annuals dressing its peripheries but how can you avoid that great, honking slab of concrete?

This statue would work so well in the middle of a garden lawn. Why? Because it's where you would expect to see a real girl on her back, facing the heavens and heavily engrossed in her novel. Spotting her on the lawn then makes you want to look around at the surroundings in which she obviously finds herself very comfortable and relaxed in.

Many garden statues succeed or fail on their location. This an awesome piece of garden art but because it has been poorly placed it does nothing for the garden.

Style...what style?

My dislike of gazing balls and *garden* gnomes is not so much a response to the artwork but more a reaction to the way gardeners utilise them in their gardens. It all comes down to style or the theme that a gardener wants to achieve.

And while one garden adornment may work in your garden the same one may not necessarily work in your neighbour's garden. If you have an eclectic style then masses of small ornaments and garden whimsy will work throughout your landscape. But if everything is formally clipped and hedged then having knick-knacks at every location will look absurd.

Start with defining what your garden already screams. Is it formal? A cottage-style garden perhaps? Mediterranean undercurrents? It doesn't matter what your garden says it just matters whether your garden statues are joining the same conversation or starting their own.

When is enough, enough?

Of all the sucky things gardeners can do with statues trying to fill small spaces with as many as possible ALWAYS looks ridiculous. Unless of course your garden is a landscaping centre and these adornments are on display for future sales - but even then they look pretty dorky!

Garden statues are meant to complement and support your garden, not the other way around. This means that they should fit in with the available garden space and not compete for your attention.

Contrast it with this group of statues and you will see that more than one statue can work provided the theme is congruent and the area in which they reside is not already busy with plants and other landscaping features.

The rule-of-thumb is probably one statue per 100sq.m. Anymore than this and you're overdoing it.

Cheap and mass-produced vs Expensive and hand-crafted

Usually these are the only two options that are available to gardeners. For me, I like the third alternative: cheap and hand-crafted and I'm starting to notice that many garden centres are preferring the fourth option: expensive and mass-produced.

But good garden statuary doesn't always have to break the budget. Often it pays to be discerning with the garden art you buy always keeping an eye open for good quality pieces that sell at bargain prices. They do exist.

Cheap, mass-produced adornments always have a certain lack-of quality about them with a sameness that wreaks of big-boxness. They scream of their lack of creativity and uniqueness and bring into the garden a lower common denominator, lowering the tone of the garden in which they reside.

As adorning your garden is all about you and your style buying mass-produced whimsy hides the real you and exhibits something far less.