Decorative stone statues (?) for a pebbled area/rockery.

[afriendcalledfive]

I've started digging up my old plants in the flower bed to make way for a rockery/pebbled low maintenance area, and I am looking for some inspiration.

I now have the decorative stone edging, and I am actively looking for pebbles for the middle part, but I want it to look, well, not TOO pebbly, iyswim, and need something to break things up a bit.

It is at the bottom of my garden where there is partial shade.

I was thinking of decorative stone statues (?) or such, or ornament things but modern. I've managed to keep my large conifer thing in the corner and a Japanese maple/acer tree because of the colours, and also a large shrub with attractive flowers that butterflies love.

Looking for inspiration, really. Uploaded the pic to see what you think (don't laugh). Any ideas ?

Was thinking of a relaxing zen theme, in a way.

How about a nice piece of drift wood,or my fav.a staddle stone,or a bird bath,if your feeling creative you could by a breeze block & carve it yourself,their very soft & easy to carve .

Bird bath sounds good :) The less greenery the better, apart from what I've left. Keep changing my mind :D

Driftwood is one to consider too. The more ideas, the merrier. Lighting is next on the list :)

Beware of assuming pebbles are low maintenance. You will have to clear them of leaves and other garden debris regularly. Many weeds love growing in pebbly/gravelly areas so you'll have a lot of weeding too. If anything does a poo (cats, foxes, hedgehogs etc) it stands out like a sore thumb on pebbles and doesn't rot down as quickly as it does on soil.

A friend of mine replaced her borders with pebbles and it looked good for all of a couple of months. After that it looked gradually scruffier and scruffier until she ended up paving over the lot in frustration.

Oh God, never thought of that, rhubarb, might need to find cat proof stuff:*)
Anybody got any ideas? What don't cats like? I could mix stuff in with the pebbles maybe? Think I might Google cat free gardening!

I agree about rockeries not being particularly low maintainance. I would be tempted to plant bamboo along the fence, with another rad acer. I think bamboo looks amazing, although some varieties grow very tall and spread. i have some beautiful bamboo outside my kitchen window, it looks amazing, and green all year round.There are hundreds of varieties to choose though, many don't spread, you can get a variety that stops at 5-6 foot tall. Japenese/oriental theme is quite popular, most local garnen centres will have a section for inspiration.

Statues can be tricky, in that anything that's really nice could cost you a fortune. (I'm assuming you don't want a solar-powered meerkat!)

How about a Japanese stone lantern? It would look good with the acer (and with bamboo, if you go for that). There are lots for sale online - just Google!

I give my (concrete) statue a coat of paint with chartwell green every so often to make them look like weathered bronze and blend in.

Ok to solar powered meerkat

Got some great ideas now, thanks, really like the staddle stones and the Japanese lanterns are gorgeous. Thanks all xxx

NOT ok to solar powered meerkats but lol! Stupid phone