Decorating Your Backyard
with Gourds
By Faith Wright-Draper aka byfaithonly
Gourds are among the easiest garden plants to
grow yet have a wide range of varieties and uses.
Decorating your backyard with gourds can include
using the plants themselves as decoration or
using the end product for embellishment. Either
way the result can be both attractive and
functional.
If you would like to use gourds as a part of the
landscape to decorate your backyard there are a
few things you will need to keep in mind. The
first is gourds, the plants themselves, take
space. Very similar to pumpkin and watermelon
plants gourds have large leaves most are larger
than the average hand with fingers spread) and
long vines (any place from 10 to 50 and beyond
feet).
Two options for growing gourds to decorate your
backyard are on fences or trellises Gourds grown
on a fence can provide privacy for your backyard
or create a beautiful back drop or focal point.
If you would like to grow gourds on a trellis or
pergola this will furnish shade during the warm
months of summer while relaxing in your backyard.
Great choices of gourds for use on fences or
trellises would be ornamental, birdhouse, swan
neck, or luffa. You do not want to grow bushel
gourds on a fence – the gourds themselves
are much too heavy for climbing use and could
cause damage to the fixture or the plant itself.
Any kind of gourd makes a beautiful ground cover.
The vines when spreading across the landscape
seldom get more than a foot high and once the
plant establishes itself the gourd works as a
natural weed control by blocking sun to the earth
underneath. If you would like to use gourds as a
ground cover you will need to keep in mind they
spread and they climb so you will need to devote
a few minutes a week moving the vines where they
are supposed to be. It’s not recommended
that you plant ground cover gourds among other
plants as they will climb anything they can reach
and can cause damage to the neighboring plant.
Using gourds to decorate your backyard will give
a variety of greenery to your yard and the gourds
themselves can be a conversation piece or simply
an added interest. Gourds also add color to a
yard. While many of the gourds are green there
are as many others that are yellow and or white.
The ornamental gourds are a great example of
color. Also, gourds put off beautiful trumpet
shaped blooms that are normally white or light
cream colored before the gourd starts to develop.
If you would like to use actual gourds to
decorate your backyard there are a variety of
ways to do this. One of the most popular is to
use dried gourds as planters or holders. Large
gourds such as bushel gourds are great for this
use because of their round shape and large size.
If you have a large bushel gourd you can even
grow a tomato or pepper plant in the gourd.
Dipper gourds and water jug gourds work for small
plants such as violets. To use gourds as planters
you will need to cut appropriate sized openings
in the tops for the plants to grow and small
drainage holes in the bottoms.
Birdhouses and birdfeeders are another way to use
gourds to decorate your yard. Birdhouse gourds
are a variety of gourd specifically for this use
but many others can also be used. You can
purchase gourds for birdhouses or feeders already
cut out and painted, gourds with the wholes cut
and not painted, or dried gourds ready for you to
do with what you want. These are great options
for the crafters who may want to decorate without
growing their own gourds.
Another unique idea for using gourds in the
backyard is as light covers. This involves making
cutouts in the cleaned and dried gourd then
placing it over a light or using as a candle
holder. These ‘light covers’ can be as
simple or as detailed as you would like.
Depending on your lighting usage you will want to
make sure you keep safety in mind first before
decorating. Low watt bulbs designed specifically
for putting of no heat and outdoor use are great
and can be found at most home improvement stores.
Whether using gourds or gourd plants to decorate
your backyard keep in mind that you are using
nature to enhance your living space and your
project should be tailored to your likes and
needs. For thousands of years gourds have been
used for many uses most likely there is a reason
for the long lived usefulness of gourds.
| Faith Wright-Draper (aka
byfaithonly) has been writing for over 40
years as a journalist, ghostwriting, and
freelancing. She currently writes for
several blogs, freelances, and on her own
website www.byfaithonly.com
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