Today, summer cottages are not only a territory for the cultivation of fruit or vegetable crops, it is a resting place, a springboard for the realization of unlimited design ideas and the creation of a unique landscape design. At the same time, there is no need to buy special materials, because you can use ordinary improvised raw materials to implement the decor. What objects and old things can be used, and how to harmoniously, “tastefully” design a site with your own hands - find out from the article.

Making garden paths

The main advantage of a hand-made cottage decor is that to create it, use objects that have lost their functionality, but at the same time, it is a pity to throw them away. Each summer resident will always find in the barn a couple of old tires, PET bottles, a sheet of plywood, unnecessary pipes, old clothes or shoes, plastic barrels, shabby furniture, etc. Most of these items can serve as excellent raw materials for making various functional accessories.

Quite often, the soil on summer cottages has a loose, viscous structure, which makes moving along it quite difficult and inconvenient. To this end, many summer residents are thinking about how to make paths connecting various household objects.

For the manufacture of paths, it is advisable to use the following materials:

1. Concrete. Strong, reliable coating, which allows you to quickly create a track characterized by high wear resistance and a long service life.
2. Brick. With the help of broken or solid brick, you can quickly equip a convenient and durable path. For reliability, the joints between the bricks should be sealed with sand, and the trench - pour cement.
3. Wood. Very original and unusual will look paths made of wooden blocks, which are laid out in a trench of sand, and watered with water. To protect the inside of the wood from rot, the bars are treated with a special tool - mastic or fuel oil.
4. Plastic bottles. The use of PET bottles opens up a lot of ideas for creativity for the summer resident, since through such containers it is possible to form paths of various ornaments and patterns. During the work, both the entire container and its lower part or lids are used. The only drawback of this method is the collection of the required volume of raw materials.
5. Tires. Old automobile tires are used for paving, which will provide the future “product” with high strength and wear resistance. The negative side of the tire tracks is their not too aesthetic appearance.
6. Tile. The most spectacular and beautiful is the path of tiles, which can be purchased in specialized stores or made with your own hands using special forms. Laying tiles is a rather troublesome event, but the final result will exceed all expectations and will not leave anyone indifferent.

Paths in the country can be at ground level, higher or lower, straight or winding. Everything will depend on the preferences and desires of the author.

Hand-made alleys can last for more than a dozen years if they are made competently and in accordance with all the rules:

• they dig a shallow trench, the borders of which are fixed with columns and ropes;
• the bottom of the ditch is lined with a layer of sand and gravel, carefully compacted;
• create concrete formwork or sides from wooden pegs, plastic small bottles;
• the trench is filled with selected material: laid with tiles, poured with concrete, put up with wooden blocks. If necessary, the joints are covered with sand.

Important! If the site is located in a lowland, then when creating paths, it is necessary to organize a drainage layer. Otherwise, during the rain, the alleys will turn into gutters.

Creating fences, hedges and borders

For the artistic decoration of a suburban area, different types of decorative fences are used. Borders, hedges and fences harmoniously look in a landscape composition, serve as protection for some objects, for example, flower beds and beds. In addition, such products made with their own hands from improvised raw materials will be able to become individual and interesting accents of a summer residence, as well as divide the territory into functional zones.

Summer residents, having imagination and having a desire, can make compact fences, borders or low hedges using such materials:

• glass or plastic bottles;
• worn tires;
• multi-colored bottle caps;
• brick remains;
• wooden blocks or pegs;
• a natural stone;
• sheets of plastic or plywood;
• the vine.

A great option for creating a border can be a brick, the remains of concrete or ceramic tiles, stone. In the absence of this raw material, you can use wooden boards or slats soaked in machine oil. As a decorative hedge, the picket fence technique is excellent. The ideal option to save time and money on the manufacture of fences, are "hedges". To form such natural fences, low-growing evergreen shrubs, conifers, and standard rose varieties are used.

The simplest and cheapest side is a product from PET bottles:

• bottles are filled with any loose material: sand, fine gravel, crushed stone;
• dig a trench at the site of the proposed fence;
• They drop into the recess, half the container, fill it with soil or crumbs of stone.

Important! You can’t fill the bottles with water, because under the influence of sunlight, lenses are formed that can burn out plants growing in the immediate vicinity.

How to make flower arches with your own hands

Various floral arrangements, in particular, arches or arbors, are considered to be the original decoration of a summer cottage. For the formation of such forms, climbing plants, climbing roses, grapes are suitable, and as a basis - a steel rod, a metal corner, a channel, which by welding turn into a complete structure.

Arched frames must be fixed in the soil, reliably tamped the lower parts with sand or gravel, then - pour cement. At the top of this design, you need to "let" any climbing plants that are well adapted to the climatic conditions of the region. In hot areas, experts advise making indoor galleries or awnings - install wooden or metal poles in the desired place, stretch a wire between them.

Sculptures and decor

Garden sculptures, made from improvised materials with their own hands, allow you to give the cottage its own unique style that guests will remember for a long time.

There is no need to purchase expensive figures of gnomes, animals or "antique" statues, because you can make such products yourself using:

• tires from the car;
• plastic bottles;
• flower pots made of ceramic or plastic;
• stones or bricks;
• barrels made of metal or wood;
• old kitchen utensils.

Wonderful sculptures are obtained from old buckets, teapots, large basins, multi-colored plastic bottles.

If there are thick logs on the site, you can cut incredibly original crafts, fairy tale characters, even a castle from them. Decorators make a wide variety of designs out of thick wire, which, after being braided with groundcover or climbing plants, turn into real topiary compositions.

Flowerbeds and flower beds

Of course, not a single summer cottage is complete without artistically designed flower beds and flower beds. To equip a mini flower garden, it is advisable to use old shoes, large hats made of dense materials, cracked pots and other small containers. Such containers are filled with succulents, compact cultures. From several iron rods and a roll of linoleum, an original flowerbed basket is obtained, from plastic bottles or pipes - a wonderful vertical design for flowers.

Did you know? Surprisingly, in order to achieve harmony in the garden, landscape designers use not only various plants and objects, but also the shadows falling from them under the influence of natural daylight or artificial evening lighting.

Traditionally, old “vehicles” or toys are used to create creative flower beds: a bicycle, a sled, carts, children's cars. Musical instruments are also suitable as raw materials. A piano or piano filled with a mass of various bright colors looks especially original.

From old wood

It is not necessary to cut down a dried tree on the site, because it can serve as a wonderful frame for an unusual flowerbed. Through several hanging pots with petunias, it can be turned into a vertical flower garden. On one of the branches you can place a cell with flowers.

From the stump

A nontrivial decoration can become a flower stump. To create it, you should choose only a healthy, not rotten stump, otherwise, under the influence of moisture and various pests, it will quickly lose its suitability and aesthetic appearance. The middle of the chock should be drilled to the desired volume, well sanded and treated with an antiseptic solution.

Inside the stump, it is necessary to make a layer of drainage, fill up fertile soil from above, place a seedling and cover everything with soil. Since the recess made inside the stump is small, cultures with a small root system are planted in it, for example: geranium, petunias, pansies, etc.

From a log

A large log with a diameter of more than 50 cm can serve as the basis for the flowerbed. The manufacturing technology of such a flower garden is quite simple:

• using a saw, chisel or other tool to clean the middle of the log;
• polish all sections, sand the surface;
• cover the cavity with polyethylene to protect the root processes of the plant from decay and disease;
• on top of the polyethylene layer, line the expanded clay drainage layer;
• fill the fertile soil over the drainage tier and plant the crop.

By making a flowerbed from a log, you can harmoniously beat its natural shape, for example, make a rectangular or oval figure. Quite often, designers leave the logs in their original form, along with pristine cracks, chips, scuffs, etc. Similar materials blend harmoniously with the surrounding objects of nature, give the space a reality and novelty.

From pallets

The original basis for flower beds can be old boxes or pallets, which are environmentally friendly and affordable raw materials.

The algorithm for creating flower beds from wooden pallets consists of the following stages:

• Sand the front part of the pallets carefully, cover them with special impregnation to protect the wood;
• paint the structure using any paint intended for wood;
• starting from the bottom row, close to each other so that the soil does not spill out, plant plants;
• water the seedlings and leave them in a horizontal position for rooting and strengthening the soil;
• after the earth is well “settled down”, place the flower beds in the desired place, fixing them with dowels, suspensions or self-tapping screws.

Made of cement

Designers propose to make beautiful, original containers for flower plants from cement mortar. As a form, a basin, an old bucket, any pot are perfect.

The creation of the future flower garden is carried out according to the following technology:

• at the bottom of the base cover a small fragment of the reinforcing mesh, which will act as a hole;
• cover the rest of the space with plastic wrap;
• ordinary cement mixture to fill the surface;
• decorate the container with pebbles, pieces of brick or natural stones;
• after the solution has frozen, remove the “formwork” and get a beautiful, original flower pot.

Did you know? Landscaping had a high level of development long before our era. A vivid example of this can be Claudius Julius Caesar, who with his own hands created in his garden an original and unusual decor. The Roman ruler had a particular weakness for roses, which he grew in huge quantities.

An unusual flower bed when applying soft forms. For example, the original container should be filled with heavy bulk materials and pressed into a durable plastic bag filled with cement mortar. When the mold hardens, you need to put it in a bag moistened with cement mixture, wrap the edges of the bag in the middle and coat the solutions. When the product completely hardens, you can decorate it with string ties.

Video: Flower pot made of cement for a garden or garden

Site design by fountains and ponds

An excellent solution for the artistic decoration of a summer cottage is considered to be the arrangement of a decorative fountain or artificial pond.

A small tank can be made from:

• metal or plastic barrels;
• old inflatable boat;
• fragment of the tank.

Important! It is very important to monitor the purity of water in a makeshift pond, periodically drain it or provide continuous circulation.

You can build a simple fountain by "masking" a trickle of water with an old kettle or watering can.

A homemade small pond is made in this way:

• dig a small pit, cover the bottom with a pillow of gravel and sand;
• put tarpaulin and a dense film in several layers on top;
• to fix the edges of materials with stones or bricks in the form of sides;
• fill the pond with water and decorate with vegetable crops.

Garden furniture

Real art masterpieces in the form of garden furniture, which even famous decorators can envy, are obtained from unnecessary old things. Wooden pallets, logs, vines, plastic bottles, awning fabrics will be used. Pallets or wooden boxes are conveniently used to create small sofas or benches, which are additionally lined with soft materials for comfort. Entire furniture sets are made from PET products: armchairs, tables, chairs. Wraps and pillows for such designs are sewn from old clothes, bedspreads or curtains.

Did you know? The peak of the development of landscape design are considered XIX-XX centuries. It was at this time that they began to pay special attention to the non-trivial use of vegetation, to look for new elements of compositions and to harmoniously combine landscape style with architectural.

Beautiful monumental benches and benches are obtained from massive logs, small tables and stools - from stumps, snags and branches. Wicker products made of twigs or rattan will look no less original. To begin with, you can try to weave a simple element of furniture - a tabletop or a seat for a stool. To create objects of a garden interior, it is advisable to use metal pipes that are connected with bolts or self-tapping screws, or welded to each other. A lot of unnecessary things that can be found in a barn or garage will help to make furniture - car tires, a wooden reel, baskets, buckets, old barrels.

Artistic decoration of a summer cottage is today one of the most popular areas in the field of landscape design. To make it, designers are advised to use various improvised materials.From the old unnecessary things, every summer resident has the opportunity to build arbors or flowerbeds, make designer furniture or flower arches, organize an artificial reservoir or pond. Having shown a little imagination and desire, you can turn the cottage into a real paradise.