Simple Sign Design
Garden markers point the way
August/September 1998
By THERESA LOE
A GARDEN SIGN is a versatile element in any
landscape. It can provide information such as a plant’s identity or
a garden’s theme, direct visitors to or through the garden, inspire
the gardener and visitors with a favorite quote or proverb, even
make us laugh.
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I came to appreciate the importance of garden signs when my
husband and I bought our current home seven years ago. I set about
designing and planting a formal, segmented herb garden with a
silver bed, a kitchen bed, a hummingbird bed, and so forth, but I
soon realized that people other than myself might not know which
bed was which. I needed signs so that friends and other visitors
would know my interests and what I was trying to accomplish with
each bed.
I suppose I could have bought signs at the nearest garden
center, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to create garden signs that
would reflect my own personality. I rummaged through the garage,
where we stash all sorts of discards. Before long, I was
constructing signs from stones, old shovels and other retired
gardening tools, clay pots, remnant pieces of wood, weathered
watering cans, even damaged picture frames.
To ensure that my signs add character to my gardens without
detracting from the beauty of the plants or cluttering up the beds,
I use them discreetly as accent pieces. A garden sign can be as
simple as a smooth stone with a plant’s name painted on it. It’s
not only more interesting and durable than a plastic stake, it also
harmonizes nicely with the surrounding landscape. I find that
cleverly designed signs tucked among the plants add an element of
surprise to a garden bed; visitors discover them as if by
accident.
It goes without saying that signs and labels also serve
practical purposes. Gardeners for whom botanical names are
important rely on signs to jog their recall of a plant’s proper
name. A sign can mark the spot where a plant has died back for the
winter. It keeps me from inadvertently unearthing it when I install
additional plants or loosen the soil in that area. And labels
enable visitors to stroll through the garden at their leisure
without having to find me to identify the plants that are unfamilar
to them.
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