25 Ways to Dress Up a Fence With Garden Art

These garden fence decorations show all sorts of creative ways to dress up your outdoor space. Discover how to turn that bland wall into a work of art.

Want more privacy? See 20 Ideas for Better Backyard Privacy.

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Creative Art & Decor for Garden Fences

I go on local garden tours to gather creative and inexpensive ideas for my garden. Sure, there all all kinds of wonderful but expensive garden art items you can buy these days but my favorites are still the ones that are upcycled, repurposed, and unique. Things that look one-of-a-kind and suit the gardener’s personality.

When we see ideas we like, it’s easy to get fixated, thinking we must have the same thing. But—speaking as much to myself as you—I encourage you to use these ideas as a starting point and let serendipity do its thing.

Explore yard sales and thrift shops and keep an open mind. Let one idea lead to another and when you find items you like, work with them! That’s a sure way to have garden art that is as unique as you are. And that’s how many of the ideas you’ll see here came to be.

If you prefer mail order, Etsy and eBay can also be good sources.

Now let’s explore some ideas.

Related: 24 More Creative Fence Decor Ideas

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1Rustic Stars

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

Rustic Metal Star | Amazon

2Plates 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 | Amazon

3Salvaged 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.

4Rusty 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.

More: Tool Art Gallery

5More 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 Flower Alliums

6Old Gate and Metal Word Sign

Everybirdy Welcome | Amazon

Old gates, headboards, shelves—they all work. Add your own touch with a favorite metal sign. Here’s some examples at Amazon.

Check thrift shops and yard sales to find ones in your area.

7Shelves and Decor

If you have some favorite 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 Outdoor Plant Shelf

8Window 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 Garden Art Ideas

9Framed Succulents

Framed succulents became popular some years ago. For some of us, succulents are not cheap but you can learn to propagate your own to get more if you’re willing to be patient.

The project (above) is from the book Gardening on a Shoestring and you can see the entire tutorial here: How to Make Framed Succulents.

The next photo is from a garden tour. I thought it was interesting that they used a screen window and threaded the succulents through it.

Fence Decor Ideas

10Galvanized 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.

11Candle 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.

12Garden 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.

13Plants 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.

Related: Creative Ways to Display Succulents

14Outdoor Art Gallery

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

15Pick A Theme

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

16Fence 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.

17Giant Bug Art

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

18Repetition 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.

19Old 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:

How to Safely Use Mirrors in the Garden

20Color

There’s nothing like a zing of color to grab attention. These brilliant blues are a great distraction from a long, boring wall. When in doubt, choose a bright blue lobelia.

21Indoor 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.

22Simple Can Be Very Good

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

23Living Art and Perennial Favorites

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

Clematis 101 Tips

24Natural Materials and Matching Textures

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

25Add Some Humor

Tree Face Kit | Amazon

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 are a whole bunch more idea galleries here.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛