25+ Creative Ideas For Garden Fences

Use What You Have and Find Ideas Wherever You Are

I go on local garden tours to gather ideas for my garden. There’s all sorts of incredible but expensive garden art you can buy these days in floral shops and plant nurseries but my favourites are still the ones that are upcycled, repurposed, and unique.

It’s easy to get locked into the idea that we need to make our own art exactly like an example we saw elsewhere, but, if you can let go and innovate, you might just come up with something even better simply by making use of things you have on hand or can find dirt cheap at yard sales or thrift shops.

Another place to grab ideas is online shops. You can see all sorts of things here on Amazon.com. Pick a favourite and see if you can make something similar.

I’ll show you some favourite ideas. I took most of these photos on garden tours.

1. Rustic Stars

Create your own unique star with reclaimed wood slats, a grape vine wreath, rustic metal star, and a raffia bow.

Buy Metal Star

2. Plates and Dishes

Have your plates and dishes seen better days? Let them live on outdoors. Here a collection of blue plates is combined with some metal art pieces and blue orbs.

Metal Garden Art

3. Salvaged Metal and Wood

Several of these pieces might be kind of bland on their own, but arranged together on this fence they look quite wonderful.

Garden Gate Ideas

4. Rusty Old Tools

I often see boxes of rusty old tools at auctions. They’re filthy and there’s probably some useless junk in the box too, but if you’re willing to lug them home and clean them up, you can get a display like this for a real deal.

Tool Art Gallery

5. More Rusty Tools

The side of this shed is used to display old garden tools, a cast iron frying pan, and more. So what works? I think it’s a simple of choosing items you like. If it appeals to you—hang it up. You can always switch things around later.

DIY Garden Art Alliums

6. Old Gate and Metal Word Sign

Old gates, headboards, shelves—they all work. Add your own touch with a favourite metal sign. Here’s some examples at Amazon. Check thrift shops and yard sales to find ones in your area.

Fun Garden Signs

7. Shelves and Decor

If you have some favourite items you want to display but find them difficult to hang, add shelves. It’s a great way to show off bulkier items that you don’t want to keep on the ground.

DIY Plant Shelf

8. Window Frame with Shutters

This is from my garden. An old window frame matched perfectly with some junk shutters to create a focal point in the garden.

Door & Window Art

9. Framed Succulents

Make Framed Succulents

Fence Decor Ideas

10. Galvanized Buckets

Along with some very sweet framed succulents, this garden has a series of galvanized buckets mounted on the fence. Simply drop potted plants in to change things up through the growing season.

11. Candle Holders and Kitchen Trivets

This is also at my house. I added the hanging planters to add interest to the long brick wall but it still looked too plain. The addition of metal candle holders and kitchen trivets added the artistic touch I wanted.

Buy Kitchen Trivet

12. Garden Tools

I hung these garden tools on the fence after realizing I was never going to use them but didn’t really want to get rid of them. While some love the look of rust, in this case I opted to spray paint the ends silver.

13. Plants With Character

The succulents chosen for this fence-mounted planter are a perfect choice for the ornate style. Plus anything long or cascading tends to kick it up a notch.

14. Outdoor Art Gallery

Display collections of similar items that work together likes these hanging metal sculptures.

15. Pick A Theme

Here the gardener picked a theme—cats—and displayed the related items together. Meow!

16. Fence and Gate Inserts

In the old days we used old floor grates for this but today you can buy metal or plastic inserts that do a good job of adding interest to a plain gate or fence.

17. Giant Bug Art

This giant dragonfly is from a shop but you can also make your own from an old ceiling fan.

Dragonfly Garden Art

18. Repetition Repetition

This unusual fence is between two houses where they wanted privacy and creativity. The “roof” up top is a smart way to add height to a fence without having a tall, plain wall. The repeated hanging baskets definitely bling it up.

19. Old Frames and Mirrors

Along with broken garden tools, I started hanging old wooden picture frames and mirrors as well. This is a great way to add interest to a long fence while you’re waiting for the plants to grow up. This tells you which mirrors to choose and how to keep it safe:

Mirrors in the Garden.

20. Colour (or Color)

There’s nothing like a zing of colour to grab attention. These brilliant blues are a great distraction from a long, boring wall.

21. Indoor Decorating Style Outdoors

This sitting area is set up the same way you’d do it indoors. The table and chairs set the stage, and the various plants and decorations on the wall accent the setting.

22. Simple Can Be Very Good

This little mask works perfectly on this expanse of black fence and gate. Simple touches like this are my favourite.

23. Living Art and Perennial Favourites

Train a clematis or other vine up a fence. Here some annuals and birdhouses add to the living art.

Clematis 101 Tips

24. Natural Materials and Matching Textures

Stacked firewood and hanging wicker baskets look gorgeous together. Think about grouping items with similar colours and textures for an eye-catching display.

25. Add Some Humour

Buy Tree Face Kits

I’m a big proponent of having your garden your way. Forget what anyone else has to say and follow your muse. If you like goofy faces like this or anything else that adds some fun, go for it.

I hope you got some ideas you can use. There’s also a whole bunch more idea galleries here. Enjoy!

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛