UK Made Stone Garden Ornaments.

Ornamental garden stoneware / cast stone garden ornaments come in many shapes and sizes.  There are different types of stone planters in the form of tubs, troughs and urns.  Urns are generally considered to be more for decorative effect than function and are often situated on some sort of pedestal, plinth or balustrade pier.

Stone tubs and troughs are often selected by size for the type of plants that they need to accommodate, although obviously decorative preference does come into it.

Then there are items that require stone columns, such as bird baths, sundials and balustrade (balusters).  Stone birdbaths and sundials have always been among the most popular items of stoneware and they certainly make an attractive focal point in any garden.

Cast-stone balustrade is made up of hand rails, balusters and piers/ plinths and is often seen as the pinnacle in stoneware.  Stone balustrade / balustrading / balustrades comes in many varied styles and designs and has been shown to enhance many types of house, new or old. The effect and enhancement can be quite stunning and is a great way to add character to almost any property.

The list of stoneware available can seem almost endless.  Another selection not yet mentioned are finials for gate posts or stone pillars, from ball finials, Spanish finials, acorns and pineapples. The list goes on and in many different sizes there is certain to be something to enhance any entrance.

Stone furniture, such as tables and stone seats is something else that has always been very popular and has a function as well as an ornamental purpose.

The important thing about garden stoneware is that it should look as if it has been cut or carved from solid stone. It should have a look of quality.  Some people do ask if it has been carved from solid stone, which means it has the right quality look about it.

Another important thing is that it should be frost proof and in theory last for ever and eventually become antique garden stoneware in its own right.

Ornamental Garden Stoneware, The Garden Ornament For The Connoisseur.

Most garden stoneware has a function of some sort, i.e. tubs, troughs and urns are types of stone garden planters, and bird baths are a way of attracting birds to your garden as well as making sure that they can find water.  Cast stone balustrade is used as a decorative barrier, a way of dividing an area and, obviously stone seating and benches are for sitting on.  Some items of garden stoneware are simply a stone garden ornament.  Although you can tell the time using a good sundial, it is in reality, these days it is a decorative stone garden ornament, along with items like stone lions and other classic cast stone animals.  Finials such as ball finials, Spanish finials, along with all the many other types of stone finials, are purely a classic garden ornament / architectural ornament.

Garden ornaments have been around since there have been gardens,  simply as a way of making an outdoor area more attractive and maybe adding some useful features.  Now the words garden ornament can mean almost any thing that is put in the garden, from a tasteless piece of plastic, such as a plastic garden planter, to a very expensive large urn on a plinth or pedestal.  It is easy to imagine that the majority of gardens in the UK have at least one garden ornament in them.

We at Shepton Classic Stone don’t consider ourselves purely as garden ornament manufacturers in the normal and modern use of the word, however, it could be argued that everything that we produce is really a garden ornament of some sort but, we do stick to producing only the classic type of stone garden ornaments.

Ever since Shepton Classic Stone was formed back in 2004, a large number of garden ornament manufacturers have been asking us, “would you like to sell our garden ornaments”  the answer is always, no, we only sell garden stoneware / garden ornaments that we manufacture our selves.

In our view, many concrete garden ornament manufacturers these days seem to have no barometer regarding taste.  It seems to be the case that many garden ornament producers will attempt to sell anything, as long as it can be produced cheaply, meaning it can be sold with high profit margins.  A lot of these cheap concrete garden ornaments are poorly made, i.e. full of air bubbles, and as a result not frost-proof, or even frost resistant.  Of course, not all concrete garden ornament products are badly made.  Basically, be careful what you buy.

However, all of our garden stoneware / stone garden ornaments have always been made using the dry-cast method, and NOT made from concrete and always will be made this way and, as a result, all of our garden products / garden ornaments are 100% frost-proof.

Frost-proof Terracotta Stone Pots and Planters.

Many suppliers of garden planters claim that the terracotta garden planters that they sell are 100% frost-proof, though in my experience I have yet to find a manufacturer of terracotta, which has been able to successfully make terracotta pots and planters that are truly 100% frost-proof.

A better alternative to terracotta pots and planters is terracotta cast-stone.  Terracotta stone is basically dry-cast stone that has been made using a permanent dye in the mix during the making process, so as to give cast-stone planters that authentic terracotta look, with the all-important terracotta colour.   Many times new customers come through the door and say, “Oh I see that you also sell terracotta planters.”  Technically these are not terracotta garden planters, they are dry-cast stone, hence they are 100% frost-proof and, because of this, have proved to be very popular with certain customers who have always liked the look of terracotta planters, but want something that will survive a freezing winter, and not need to be replaced in a year or two because of cracking caused by frost damage.

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