Theme & Miniature Gardens

Designed with authenticity, one of the historical themes can be a rewarding garden retreat for you and your family, as well as your guests. If entertaining is your true love, having a garden that reflects an artistic, historical theme can be a place where dreams come true. The majority of artifacts and props are created with artificial rock and other organic materials. Keep in mind, this can be a sub-garden, or garden within a garden, tucked away in a special section of your back yard.

Miniature Fantasy Garden

Often a sub-garden or special area of the back yard, miniature fantasy ornaments give your garden a “fairy tale theme”. Examples are scaled statues and castles with gravel paths, mysterious caves, and bonsai Junipers and Cypress hanging over cascading water. The fantasy features must all be the same scale, including the plants. Think of Walt’s miniature gardens at Disneyland^®. There is no reason why your yard can’t look like a scaled-down version of the Magic Kingdom^®.

Prehistoric Artifact Garden: This theme may be bold and featured, or subtle and mysterious. Dinosaur and Sabre-Tooth Tiger bones protruding from the rock or garden floor (artificial rock, of course), add points of interest to your yard, especially if the exposed animal looks authentic. A natural fit for the Rock Pool theme, especially if the grotto system displays cave paintings by early man—Neanderthals!

Aztec / Mayan / Incan Ruins:

Columns, walls, and retaining walls engraved with ancient Aztec, Mayan, or Incan symbols and colorful hieroglyphs look spectacular with a Tropical Garden. A true surprise for your guests! Patio décor includes rattan furniture, statues, relics, pottery, plaques, and paintings hung from patio walls. Custom concrete work would include a round Mayan calendar centered in the entertainment area.

Egyptian Hieroglyph Garden:

Columns, walls, and retaining walls engraved with ancient Egyptian symbols and hieroglyphs would be designed within an arid garden that features a stream, pond, or swimming pool. The water would represent the Nile and display Cyperus and Horsetail Reeds along the “banks”. The patio would include Egyptian décor such as sarcophagus, statues, paintings, and related artifacts.

Medieval Castle:

Custom artificial rock work and concrete castings show castle turret ruins rising from the forested woodland. A medieval village with mill and waterwheel sits by a stream that cascades into a natural rock pool. A drawbridge (custom woodcrete) spans the moat that allows guests to walk to the raised spa, grotto, waterfall, and slide. The slide ends under the arched opening in the castle wall ruins.

Bold wood and iron table and chairs stand steady on the stone floor of the patio adorned with a knight in armor and other “King Arthur” décor. Authentic, rustic, this garden becomes a peaceful retreat.

Pioneer / American West: A few carefully placed western artifacts, a wagon wheel, hitching post, or wooden sign pointing to “Dry Gulch”, can take you and your guests back to the “Old West”. A more elaborate design would feature a cassita (sp?) or guest house disguised as a ghost town shack like Knotts Berry Farm^®, complete with wood porch, or  a timbered gold mine shaft entrance (custom woodcrete) with antique lanterns disappearing into a slope, or an iron mining car on steel tracks disappearing into the arid landscape. If horses are part of your lifestyle, this theme can add to your western lifestyle.

Miniature Railroad Garden: Pick your scale for your outdoor train set(s), add miniature plants, buildings, tunnels, towns and villages, props, an engineer control shack, and your railroad system is ready for operation. Elevation changes—mounds and berms—are required so scaled bridges can span mountainous canyons. A rock garden will do nicely as a perfect setting for your miniature railroad. Drainage is important so the system drains properly on rainy days. The low-voltage system is safe for the family and friends. Think “special focal point of interest” when locating Railroad Garden.