Traveling creates lasting memories, where even a simple photograph can take us back in time to the sights, smells and emotions we experienced. For all the busy times of the year, or the financially strapped times, when we are unable to travel; having those memories can bring a lot of happiness to our day! For this reason, we try to have elements that evoke the vacation spirit all throughout our house … inside and out! For the green thumbs out there, we have discovered some lovely ways to implement this idea in a garden design based on your travels.
There are some lovely ways you can evoke the idea of travel, or simply display souvenirs in your garden. One thing to be aware of though, is that you really can’t bring actual plants home with you from different countries. The main reason for this is that some items can harbor plant pests and foreign animal diseases. Consult your country’s regulations on importing agricultural items. Here are the regulations for the United States and Canada. Even if you are just trying to bring over seeds you must declare them. You also have to think about the climate where you live. You might love the palm trees of California, but they might not thrive where you live.
Consider placing decorative items in your garden that you brought back as souvenirs. Hanging plaques, or weather proof artwork on an outside wall, or from tree branches would be lovely. Pots and vases add a nice touch as well.
So many of us keep the shells we gather off the beach in pretty baskets in our bathrooms. Give them a better life in your garden and let them see the light of day! Besides scattering them amongst your plants, consider using them as a border around a little tiled patio space. One friend of ours actually broke her shells into pieces and created a beautiful mosaic top for a side table! Imagine sitting beside that in a fancy garden chair taking all of nature in.
A great little hobby project for a weekend or two could be to create a rustic looking sign post with all of the destinations you have been to. Perhaps the signs could actually point to areas in your garden where artifacts from that location can be found. Either way, we think it sets a great tone!
You may not be able to sit by the ocean in your garden, but a bubbling water feature has similar relaxing effects! Of course, we won’t tell anyone if you want to hide an ocean sound machine in your bushes! Basically, if you decide what you need to get out of your garden space, there will be a way to achieve it. We’ve even considered painting a bird house to look like one of our favorite resorts!
A travel themed garden will continuously change and evolve over time as you gain new experiences. Now is the perfect time of year to start planning and creating so you have a wonderful space to enjoy next spring. We have been having a lot of fun with a newly launched garden design tool created for the iPad. Garden Sketch allows you to play around with different layouts before digging up any dirt yourself. They are holding a contest this week for the best looking themed garden, so why not use that as inspiration to get started! We recommend reading through their tutorial first so you can realize it’s full potential.
We’d love to see how you incorporate travel into your garden, so please share your ideas with us and others using #TravelGarden.
Nancie Lee
I love decorating with travel as the theme. I have done it since my teens. The sign is a great idea for the back yard!! My ideal home is – Tuscan Italy kitchen, African safari den/office, Moroccan bedroom and European living room. One day! Thanks for sharing great ideas!
Brie
I love your wish list home ideas! Every room in my house looks different too (mostly because I like so many different design styles that I can’t settle on just one!)
mara rose
These images reminds me of a vacation I took in Greece few years back, I love the overall mood of your themed garden and I wish you will keep us updated on your future projects.
Erica Hargreave
Thanks Mara! Brie’s garden really is a fantastic escape!
Jess and Brandon
I love decorating. But i never thought decorating with a travel theme. Thank you so much for this lovely and useful article.
Erica Hargreave
Well, when you can’t be on the road all the time, you may as well bring some of the road home!
Kathy
I have a spring wild flower garden from a tour I took in the Western Cape. Looks wonderful in the spring and a lot of the plants have proved to be tough contenders in the winter and are still around and beginning to flower again.
Brie
That sounds beautiful! I bet you get some wonderful scents from all those flowers too.
Brie
How wonderful! I wonder what you will bring back from your future trip to Prague for your garden! I have never been there but would love to go.
Kain
I have outlined a garden on Autocad. Your article gave me a few ideas for my garden. Nice article about the idea of the travel themed garden. Thank you
Brie
Glad to have been a little inspirational for you! Now that the weather is changing I’ve been in the garden a lot more lately, pulling weeds and making sure everything looks nice. I’m ready for some new things so…time to travel again!
terry
A garden for me is a stress reliever,I constantly find new ways to improve my garden,though sometimes I do not like walking on the grass I recently paved a few paths in my garden so I can walk around and not really dirty my shoes or feet. my garden is now paved but still looks natural
Brie
I agree with you about walking on the grass! Sometimes I like the fresh feeling between my toes, and other times it’s too dry, and then other times, I’m afraid of what might be crawling in it!
Josephine
I took a few local sea shells when I visited Indonesia a while ago. Never thought to use it as a nice garden decoration, though. Thanks for the ideas!
Conchitah
We also love decorating and our garden is one of our favorite spots. We never really had a theme for that though. But your travel themed garden sounds a really brilliant idea since my family and I also love travelling and we never fail to bring along with us souvenirs even if it’s just a pebble. Memories are always in our heart but souvenirs help us remind them every single day. Thanks for sharing!
Amin Shah
Really great idea decorating garden is not only for beauty in the garden but also part of health and healthy environment.
Tkay
Brilliant article. I just loved those pics and wonderful gardening ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Jordan Schoner
Definitely perfect.. Thank for your sharing your blog. Fixing garden is not an ordinary decorating a base. Garden reflects your imagination. I’m excited to decorate my own garden in my house. Great pictures and information was enough for me to create a awesome garden like yours. It is very Beautiful and impressive idea.
Brie
We’d love to see your gardens with your own travel themed designs!
Vickey Barron
A good fountain can add beauty to a garden no doubt but I loved the first one which is looking a bit traditional but appealing and I would like to apply this design in my own garden!
Thanks!!!!
Brie Mason
Glad I could provide some inspiration for you! My best ideas come from letting my mind wander, but also from reading things that others have shared that spark a creative boost. I do love fountains in gardens, but in my own I worry about keeping algae and sludge from forming.
Brie
A Thai inspired garden sounds beautiful! Please share it with us. If you are not able to share a photo here, you can share it with us on Twitter. Our handle is @Roamancing
Brie
Thanks Martin! I need to start setting up more plants inside my house. I know it is supposed to be so good for us and for the air quality in our homes. We need to breath good clean oxygen!
SammyD
I can almost imagine you picking every item and placing it carefully in your garden, taking your time with every color and, finally, enjoying the result of your work. Indeed, it reminds me of the beauty of the Greece, the serenity of Malta and the tranquility of my grandmother’s back yard.
Brie
Wow!!! What a lovely comment and I’m truly touched that my writing paints such a clear image for you as that’s exactly how I was feeling! There was something very special about my grandmother’s back yard as well.
Gumbert
I’ve been bringing things from travels since I was a kid ) Shells, stones etc. and decorated small flowerbed in our yard with them – and now I saw this post ))
Brie
It just came naturally to you!
Peter
Alright so it’s not really a question about the topic at hand here but… how long does it take you to put together these kind of posts? Is it easy? Like did you have to research all this stuff? I’ve been wanting to start a blog myself, so just curious. Sorry not totally relevant but figured I’d ask. Thanks in advance
cate
I have been in love with carrying something from where i visit so as to remind me of the scenes have seen, and now I know where to list them. Thank you for this article it has made me recollect a lot of memories.
Peter Fry
Loved the idea for water fountain and ocean sound machine, Great way to reduce stress and make itself calm. You have given me great idea to try out for my own garden designs. 🙂
mary
How fun to take all the wonderful memories and use things that remind us everyday of the great times we have had on vacation.. So many ideas. I am a beach lover and I really liked your idea of bringing the beach back to the house. I could open a book and be back in one of my favorite places!
Aaron
Adding seashells to to a garden is a great idea. Never thought of that.
Trevor McClintock
Thank you for Brie for sharing this – very lovely and simple ideas that turn out beautifully in the garden – love it! (:
Ganim
Great tips and a good read! Thanks for sharing guys.
Jason
Absolutely love the idea of creating a colorful travel post with wood pieces from each country visited. That is simply awesome. I think the colors would really add to our yard as well. You’ve officially given us inspiration for our personal yard and we deal with backyard stuff all the time so kudos for a great idea!
Jason Johnson
I never thought about decorating with a travel theme. What a great idea. My grandparents used to have a beautiful garden as well so this took me back!
Alex
I agree. This is a wonderful article. I try and make time to visit any local arboretums during my travels. These have provided several interesting ideas for planting around the home. Thanks for the great read.
John
Getting out in the garden at the end of a busy day reduces my stress levels and mental fatigue.I love gardening. Your post will help me to design my garden.Thanks for sharing…
Alex
I love the sand dollar. we have been collecting them from beaches all over for many, many years. When we’ve been lucky enough to find one that isn’t damaged, my wife has turned it into wall art by gently and carefully teasing it open to spill out its ‘change’ and then mounting this in an enclosed frame. Beautiful
thanks for your inspiration.
Amy
I love the beautiful fountain! A water element is always nice in a garden. A bonus is that flowing water will attract birds of all kinds to your yard. Enjoy it. If you want more birds, add a hummingbird feeder.
jennifer
Love that sign post it is beautiful. I pretty much love painting wood myself this is something i could do myself. thanks for sharing.
Zahidul Islam
I love the idea. I`m new in this field but I have got a good taste of traveling. I`ll try use it in my next project