What Defines a Garden Structure

There isn't a much more diverse term than garden structure, as it can mean anything that is put into a garden. The range of items that the term garden structures covers is vast, far more expanded than most other subjects and with different types that literally can't be counted. What determines a garden structure is nearly that a person has pointed to an item and claimed it as being one, with the only requirement that the item must be in or near a garden.

A toothpick is a garden structure. It may be the first thing that you put in your garden when your small plant finally rises out the ground. This relatively small structure is what will guide your plant into becoming something huge and amazing. Going further up the ladder, there are structures that are the next logical step for supporting your plants. The plant once supported by just a tiny toothpick is now 100, 200, or even 1,000 times its original size and now requires more to flourish so you will have a successful garden. This stick is yet another garden structure. Things keep getting larger and larger in the gardening world, with plants now growing to staggering heights while 6-foot pieces of lumber support them. The supports for plants are just a tiny portion of the definition of a garden structure.

There is also the decorative side of garden structures, and these objects are anything that adds a little beauty to your greenery. There are plastic or stone butterflies, structures that you attach or place on other structures such as picket fences surrounding your garden. The notion of garden structure is as vast as the imagination. Beyond the butterflies and picket fences, there are walkways set in the walking gaps of your garden. These paths serve no practical function except to bring a certain ambience to your garden. Then there are fountains and stones in the middle of your garden that may serve no function except to enhance the overall beauty.

Of course, there are always larger garden structures that are both beautiful and practical, such as gazebos. But why stop there? You could add a house or a cottage in the middle of a garden and call it a garden structure. With all these definitions of what a garden structure is, however, you should be careful. If you stand in the middle of your garden for too long, someone might decide to label you as a garden structure!