Natural materials like driftwood are at the heart of the coastal style. Driftwood comprises a variety of damaged wood pieces that have been washed up to the shore by strong winds and large waves of the sea or ocean.
If you are lucky enough to find some really interesting pieces of driftwood on your local beach, create projects and show them off!
These days, driftwood has become a brilliant idea for those who love recycling old wood to create new and unique wooden products and arrangements for their home and garden. Driftwood can be used to make lots of original-looking, sturdy projects, such as centerpieces, furniture, jewel hangers, ornaments, planters, fences, just to name a few! And there is more than one way to achieve an eye-catching arrangement or design…
Any product that’s made of driftwood has a trendy style that is not limited to a coastal or beach theme, but usually suggests a natural scene. Also, such a product will create a wonderful rustic ambiance, either at home or outdoors.
Keep reading as I’m going to share some of the best ways you can use driftwood in your beach-themed garden.
Great Ways To Use Driftwood In Your Beach-Themed Garden
Driftwood is a natural material that will add a sense of aesthetic beauty to your garden. Products crafted from this wood have gained popularity over the years for their limitless natural designs that work well in small and large gardens. What’s more, driftwood art is well known for its durability because the wood has been exposed to water, wind, and other harsh condition before.
Know that the list of using driftwood for your garden décor is endless. Here are some of the cool ideas that may interest you.
Succulent Planters
Driftwood can be the dominant feature in the arrangement of cut greenery. If you have a nice piece of driftwood, use it to your advantage and create a container for the outdoor plants and flowers.
In fact, driftwood can serve as an excellent container when you want to plant succulents. Because of driftwood’s natural drainage ability, the containers will be ideal when planting succulents in your garden landscape.
Also, driftwood containers will be suitable for planting air plants as they do not require using any planting components like soil.
For designing the planters, it’s easy to work with different variables like size, color, shape, height, and texture. In the arrangement, your only stable elements will be the container, driftwood, and stones. Even the heaviest, most unwieldy piece of driftwood can be held securely in an arrangement for the succulents or greenery.
The plants themselves will grow, so you must keep in mind how they grow in their natural surroundings and then, try to recreate a natural effect. The proportion of plants to driftwood might depend on your mood of the moment and on the effect you wish to achieve, but it’s very important to give your plants some room to grow.
Driftwood can truly flatter your plants, and when you display planters made of driftwood, they will make an exciting addition to your beach-themed garden.
Garden Signs
A garden sign is the most used and authentic craft anyone who has a beach-themed garden will need. If you are a DIY person, all you need to do is shave down your wood to a flat surface that you can nail together in two layers. Then you will create another surface on the opposite side.
You may also choose to paint or wood burn the sign when you are writing your message. This activity is quick and easy, and all you need is a wood burning tool, stencils, steady hand, and concentration.
A Birdhouse
You can turn some pieces of driftwood into something that your bird friends will love!
Building a simple, custom birdhouse for your beach-themed garden is easy. First, you need to choose an ideal spot where the wind won’t sway the birdhouse too much. Then, you need to select a flat board and adjust it on the bottom. Using the wood sticks, make a neat circle around the edge of the board. After which, you will secure it all together by making a teepee on the top.
Painted Décor
The activity of painting flat pieces of driftwood is recommended for people who want to put their creative minds to work. Just make sure that you don’t lose the beach theme of your garden.
Oil-based paints are best suited for this outdoor task because they are long-lasting and resistant to water and harsh weather conditions. Remember to protect the driftwood pieces and their finish with two layers of polyurethane after you’re done painting.
Garden Sculptures
Driftwood by itself can serve well as a natural sculpture in your beach-themed garden.
The wood, worn by the relentless pounding of the sea waves, can become a sculpture suitable to grace an outdoor fireplace. Small sculptures may be used very effectively as accents but also to establish a sense of scale in your composition.
If you are skilled at woodworking and want to create a more artistic beach-themed garden, you may choose to tackle a more advanced driftwood décor project. You may carve out a mermaid, seashell, crab, turtle, starfish, anchor, or much more. You’ll be amazed at just how many uses there are for a humble piece of driftwood, given a little imagination and creativity. Whether it is a small or large sculpture, it will add your unique style to the garden landscape.
Rain Chains And Hanging Art
You can choose to add something you no longer see frequently in the gardens, such as charming wind chimes or rain chains. But building such a hanging art requires you to have some experience in craftwork.
After collecting some driftwood, you will need to cut it into pieces of perfect sizes. Drill evenly spaced holes through which you will run a string and knot it off. Then you can add some beads or a few bells. Also, driftwood combined with feathers can form a striking artwork.
Using driftwood in creating hanging art will enhance the overall appearance and mood of your beach-themed garden.
Furniture
Your beach-themed garden will require sturdy furniture like wooden chairs and benches, which can be useful when you are relaxing in the backyard. Even though on most occasions driftwood is preferred for smaller art and craft projects that are lightweight, it can also be used to make furniture.
Furniture made of sea-worn driftwood pieces can look elegant and timeless, is kind to the environment, blends in with the outdoor setting, and gives that beachy feel.
To build robust outdoor furniture, you will need to find driftwood that has not undergone the harsh environment treatment, and is sturdier and more stable. Also, the roots of the wood, such as tree stumps molded in water, can withstand more weight and pressure than any standard piece when treated.
Weathered driftwood, with curls of peeling paint still adhering to its contours, can be formed into shelves hanging from lengths of worn rope. Larger pieces can be crafted into furniture like tables. Rugged planks of driftwood will make your outdoor furniture pieces full of character.
Plant Pots
If you are a fan of having planters and flower pots in your garden, you can choose to build them out of driftwood.
You can add small pieces of wood to the pots as decoration to bring your plants to life and give them a coastal look. Also, you can only frame the exterior part of the pot with driftwood for an aesthetical appeal.
Hand Railing For Stairs
Railing made of driftwood is a great idea when you want to replace a hand railing on your garden staircase with something more unique. It is also applicable to use outside the home to create a wheelchair-accessible ramp.
When working on your new railing, ensure that you have some quality wood oil and polyurethane. Select driftwood pieces that are long enough, more so when you want to do some replacement in the future.
Heart Of The Sea
You can design a creative project called the “heart of the sea”. You’ll need to draw a heart using some poster board, then fit many small pieces of wood into the outline. Using a sealant, glue these wooden parts together.
You may also choose to give it a more natural, seaside look by attaching a seashell to the front of the heart. This design will definitely give your beach-themed garden the natural touch you are looking for.
How To Prepare Driftwood For Your Outdoor Project
When using driftwood to design a beach-themed garden, the first step is to search for and identify any piece that would be suitable to the nature of the project.
You will need to check for moss, mold, mildew, and insects on driftwood found on the river bank. If your driftwood is from the ocean, get a brush and clean off the sand particles and barnacles that might reside on the planks.
After you have collected and brought your wood home, proceed to clean up bad debris and dead flake. Wash the pieces with water and non-iodized salt to remove bacteria and other disease-causing microbes.
If you have small driftwood pieces, you may use a large pot and boil them for three hours to eliminate the remaining bacteria and avoid your wood from building up a foul odor.
On A Final Note,
So, have you decided to create a beach in your backyard or garden that features driftwood as the primary material?
Then get ready to take your shoes off and go outdoors to look for driftwood.Even though most of this wood is unruly, you can turn it into many beautiful and robust projects that will blend well with the design of your beach-themed garden.
The post Ways To Use Driftwood In A Beach-Themed Garden appeared first on Marina View Homes.
