Yards with Flair - Decorating Your Outdoor Yard and Garden Area

We have owned a variety of outdoor welcome mats from a company called Mohawk.  Known for their durable yet attractive designs, we have found these to be the longest lasting mats for our rough and tough family of 5 humans and 7 pets!  Their mats are affordable (all of ours have been under $20.00) and last a few seasons, depending on wear.  It should be noted that Mohawk creates mats from recycled tires as well, and we purchase those particularly whenever we can.  Their mats are therefore heavier and more solid, but still quite useable. I can still brush off, shake or sweep debris that has collected on them. 

Garden flags are a nice added decoration to your outside and add color and vibrancy to your yard.  Garden flags are small and typically hang on a small iron pole and hanger. Ours is next to our side door where people park and enter. It allows us to share a Welcome message or a thought about the season. My school age children especially love our variety of flags and want to change the flags often to reflect holidays and happenings in our home.  We've found Toland brand flags in particular to have vivid, vibrant colors and a soft, pleasing look to them.  The flags themselves weather the elements well and can be hung out for years. 

We seem to have quite a collect of what we affectionately call "yard critters" as well. There are often ceramic outdoor decorations given to us by family and friends.  My family knows I have a great love of frogs, so many of our outdoor friends are frog themed. We also have turtles scattered in the yard, under trees, and near flower beds.  Since a large number of rabbits seem to visit our area, we have a few bunnies and even a Bunny Crossing sign.  Another idea for a yard critter decoration is the Peek a boo animals that can be affixed to a tree. 

Many families in the area have large flags on poles decorating the very front of their house or yard. Ours typically has the American flag hanging or one of my husband's favorite college teams for the area, the University of Virginia.  Team flags are often a common decoration and many families hang their team flags on the days of various games. It's always much talked about when fans and not so fans pull into the driveway to discuss the current season, players and games.

In Summary

As you can see, there are many ways to decorate your ourdoor garden and yard area, and the decoration choices are often only limited by your imagination.  Your yard and garden often reflects your personal style and messages you want to convey to the community around you.