Homemade Garden Sculpture by die_Niam
DIY Garden Art Projects
With the passage of EMBER, homeowners in the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic Hills Mitigation Areas (areas located on the eastern edge of the City of Berkeley) are required to remove combustible materials within a five-foot radius around their homes. With this removal, there are lots of opportunities to be creative in this open space. Living in the Bay Area, we are fortunate to have many talented artists that are creating stunning art for the Zone 0 space. The ACCI Gallery’s upcoming show, titled “Zone 0 – New Opportunities for Art in the Garden,” August 22nd through September 27, 2026, highlights examples of this terrific garden art.
But making your own art can be fun and unique so why not consider expressing your own creativity through a DIY art project for your garden? A quick search of the internet reveals simple instructions to make inexpensive and relatively easy garden art projects such as garden orbs, bird baths, pavers, and fountains. This article provides links to a few YouTube videos or written instructions to get you started on your artistic journey.
Stunning visuals: Boulder and Orbs
Homemade Sculptural Orb from Casa Refined By Jorge
Rock gardens can be an easy way to comply with the Zone 0 requirements, but they don’t need to be dull. Consider varying the shapes, sizes and types of rocks you place in this space and then provide accent pieces such as garden orbs and larger rocks to provide contrast. This video shows you how to make large inexpensive Sculptural Orbs, using a beach ball or yoga ball, concrete mixes, and paints and stains. These orbs can be customized with textural accents or colors that accent the colors in your garden.
American Soil & Stone (Richmond) and Acapulco Rock & Soil (Richmond) have beautiful pebbles, rocks, and boulders in wide variety of sizes that you can select and transport on your own or if they are large, you can have them shipped to your house; however, a less expensive (and easier to move) option is to make your own boulder out of cardboard, chicken wire and mortar mix. You can fabricate a boulder that fits your garden space and customize it to include your street number on the boulder or even hide a container to hold garden tools or a cooler.
Feeling more adventurous? Want to create art out of molten metal or glass? Weld a bench or a metal planter? The Crucible in Oakland (The Crucible) offers a variety of classes covering topics such as metal furniture fabrication, metal foundry processes, and glass sculpture classes varying from 3-hour tasters’ classes to weekend classes to classes that meet for once a week for an extended period.
Bringing Nature into your Yard - Bird Baths
Homemade bird bath by The Art Of Doing Stuff
There is nothing quite so magical as seeing birds and butterflies in your garden. Bird baths are a wonderful way to reward these creatures for an excursion into your yard with a delightful plunge or a sip to drink. A clean and simple bird bath can be easily made and installed in your garden within hours (see this video for a DYI birdbath) and customize it to reflect your own aesthetic. The sky is the limit in designing your own bird bath. Several creative and clever DYI bird bath ideas are located here including a Mad Hatter teapot bird bath (https://www.thespruce.com/diy-bird-baths-4172975).
Fun Projects with Kids - Paving Stones, Garden Pots and Mushrooms
Concrete Stepping Stones by Daily Garden Fix
Making art for your garden shouldn’t be a chore. Share your enthusiasm for art with kids or friends by embedding leaves, stones, tiles, or mementos into pavers. This basic primer gives instructions how to make paving stones with a child. Written instructions are found here. Other videos suggest adding a metal grate or polyester fiber for strength. This video shows a number of options for adding beautiful patterns to steppingstones using leaves, pebbles, and fabrics. Concrete mix can also be used to make light-weight garden pots or concrete mushrooms (see a DYI example here).
Bringing Water into your Garden: Fountains
Homemade Round Fountain by HAXMAN
The sound of water in a garden can create a tranquil and welcoming environment. Make a large Round Fountain , using pool noodles and duct tape to create the concrete form in place. Or create a smaller fountain using a cardboard box as a mold. Here is another Concrete Fountain idea. You could make a table top water fountain to attract birds and include a small planter.
Make music in your garden: Wind Chimes
Homemade wind chimes by Lee HIte
To better understand the science behind Chimes, STEM lovers should check out this fascinating comprehensive video, Chime Design and Build - Say It With Chimes , for exhaustive information. Another option for making wind chimes is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz1BN-brqKU.
Whatever you decide to do, enjoy your DYI garden art project and share photos of your completed projects in the comment field!