Versatile Garden Ornaments

Our garden ornaments are handmade which gives us the freedom of versatility. We can adapt our products to meet the individual needs of our customers, unlike mass market manufacturers.  Whether you want to transform a jardinière into a fountain or repurpose an urn, our team can help. Here are some pieces that we have modified over the years, as some garden inspiration!

Planters into Fountains

Last year our Octagonal Fountain created the centrepiece of the Griffin Glasshouses stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show . It will feature there again this May so come and see us if you’re attending the show.

This product was created for a client who wanted a fountain without a large pond and pool surround. We adapted our Octagonal Jardinière to created a self contained water feature with beautiful Gothic style quatrefoils. Our customer added a gorgeous planting scheme around the fountain as an integral feature of their an elegant garden design.

Our Octagonal Jardinière was adapted to become this beautiful Gothic style fountain.

RHS Gold Medal Winning designer Juliet Sargeant has also used our Octagonal Fountain in her recent garden design, where she created garden ‘rooms’ to section a large garden. Our fountain was surrounded by swathes of lavender as a centrepiece for a tranquil patio. Urns were added to adorn the surrounding walls to add stature and additional planting space.

Our Octagonal Fountain is the centrepiece of Juliet Sargeant’s garden design (Photo credit Matthew J Thomas).

Our Octagonal Jardinières have a distinctive font shape with Gothic details. This ornate feature piece looks stylish planted with simple evergreen topiary. Place them on patios in pairs or on either side of  garden paths or property entrances.

Although you can have the best of both worlds with evergreens and seasonal pops of colour. This extended jardinière is raised higher, which  saves backs from too much bending while planting and weeding. It also raises planting schemes to eye level for greater impact.

The extended Octagonal Jardinière has a taller base.

Kew Urn Transformations

Our Kew fountain is another versatile best seller. It has been the jewel in our RHS Chelsea 5 Star award winning stand many times. It was originally created for the Temperate House at Kew Gardens, which is named after, but not as a fountain.

Our Kew fountain is our best seller.

The iconic urns that adorn the Temperate House at Kew Gardens were taken down during The Blitz to protect them. But they were forgotten about until the late 1970’s. When staff rediscovered them, many of the urns were damaged or crumbling. So they asked us to replicate them and our restored versions sit atop the world famous hot house today. They were repainted during the recent refurbishment. The Kew is shown here as a lidded urn. We have found that the wide bowl and pretty detailing makes a beautiful fountain or planter as a garden feature.

Our replica urns replaced the damaged originals that adorn the Temperate House at Kew Gardens

Our customers love our Kew as a planter as the wide diameter offers extra room to create opulent floral displays. The Kew can be placed on walls and gate posts to add planting opportunities, but it has an elegance raised on a pedestal. Use it as the cornerstone of a formal garden design or as a planting feature in the middle of a flower bed. Add a mixture of up right and trailing plants that spill over the edge for a romantic feel.

The Kew planter can be bought with a range of pedestals or it can stand alone.

Statues In Many Roles

Statues are another garden ornament that is more versatile than you’d first imagine. They can draw the eye to a section of your garden design, become the central feature or be used to break up the monotony of a wall or uniform hedging. They really stand out in winter, clad in twinkling frost when much of garden has died down.

Statues can even be adapted into a water feature.  Our master crafts people can make statues suitable for fountain use on request. This statue has the basket as the water spout, but this is just one way. You can stand your statue in a pond or set it in a walled recess with a wall mounted fountain base as long as you have room for a water pump and access to a water supply. Our range can be mixed and matched to achieve your desired look.

Our Goddess Flora statue adapted into a fountain.

Statues can bring a planting scheme together raised on a pedestal for maximum impact. Our statue in the Barakura Garden in Japan draws the eye to create a greater floral  impact as the plants provide an everchanging framework around the statue throughout the seasons.

Our statues makes a focal point on a pedestal within a wonderful planting scheme.

Statues are great at accentuating hard landscaping features too. Use lighting to create a soft ambiance around your statue, on patios and even staircases! Don’t be constrained by convention. Create the garden design of your dreams.

Our Persephone statue makes a staircase  feature. Statues also work well against evergreen shrubs to add interest.

Other Adaptations

Most of range can be adapted. One simple but popular request is for our large planters to be made without bottoms. This allows tree roots to grow into the soil while maintaining the appearance of a potted plant. This is perfect for trees planted for the Queen’s Green Canopy project to celebrate her Jubilee this year. You can even engrave the planter in commemoration.

A pair of small Gothic troughs with matching trees to flank a smart entrance. Lifted paving slabs and a bottomless planter can allow root growth for larger trees.

We have frequent requests to shorten or adapt columns into pedestals as well as transforming pedestals into sundial or armillary plinths. Our wide range can be modified on request to fit your design. We also make birdbaths from sundial plinths. Don’t forget that most of our products can be engraved to make them personal and extra special.

This waisted pedestal makes a contemporary plinth for an armillary sphere but it could also display statues, urns and planters.

Handmade

All our cast stone is handmade in our Kent Workshop. Our skilled makers use hand tools, same as the day we opened our business seventy years ago on the Queen’s Coronation day. We don’t use any factory machinery. This allows us to pick out the fine details in our stonework as well as making adaptations and bespoke pieces.  Please call our team to find out how we can help you with your garden designs.

Our Oxford fountain being made by hand in our Kent Workshop.