Garden Tiles Create A Decorative Tile Wall For The Senses

Add the pleasures of sight and touch to a rock wall with our appealing garden tiles.

Customer Laurie Gilson sent us these terrific snaps of the newest addition to Florida's famous Kanapaha Gardens: a sensory garden for children, complete with a decorative tile wall. The long rock wall is full of interest and features whole and fragmented pieces of the decorative tiles found here at Cape Cod Treasure Chest.

The new exhibit in the children's garden invites little hands to explore, to experience the differing textures, shapes and designs. In addition to the decorative tiles, small pieces of statuary and outsize crystals have been incorporated, creating a sense of surprise and magic at every turn.

Kanapaha Gardens is open to the public and features 1 1/2 miles of paved walkways, winding through 24 different botanical collections. You'll find rose gardens, rock gardens, Asian gardens, water gardens and even a hummingbird garden. The gardens are wheelchair accessible, with plenty of places to rest and admire the surroundings and it's a wonderful place to take a picnic on a sunny afternoon.

We think Kanapaha Gardens is a must-visit spot if you're ever in Gainesville, Florida, but, why not create your own decorative tile wall a little closer to home? It's a project that offers almost unlimited scope for your imagination and creativity!

Using Garden Tiles In Rock Walls For Added Interest

Visitors to the gardens of the Mediterranean, Central America or the American Southwest are certain to come home with an impression of gleaming decorative tiles used in all kinds of unusual ways, adding color to expanses of brick, adobe and stone. Ceramic is a natural material that lends itself readily to a botanical setting, and even a few well chosen tiles add touches of color that can transform the simplest garden into a memorable place to spend time.

Decorative tiles can be set in cement or weather-proof grout, or you might decide to securely embed fragments of them in gravel or soil. Following a regimented pattern in adding tiles to a wall will result in a planned, formal look, but our favorite designs take a freer, more random approach.

Try taking half a dozen tiles and breaking them into pieces. Then toss them gently into the garden wall setting to see where they fall naturally. This can spark your basic ideas for how to create a broadly-patterned mosaic with perhaps a little fish here, a little flower there, a bird amongst the pebbles or a kitty face peeking out over a favorite rock! Kanapaha Gardens has done a wonderful job in creating this unexpected finished design in their decorative tile wall by scattering many different kinds of tiles far and wide throughout the exhibit. Isn't it more interesting to look at than if they'd set their tiles like soldiers all in a row?

Rock walls may be build vertically straight, as in a retaining wall or planter in which plants may be grown much like in a planter box, but don't overlook the idea of a more free-form rockery. In a rock garden, stones and soil may be built up like a pyramid or terrace, with decorative tiles and other elements set in wherever they look best. The glossy feel and raised designs of many of our tiles beg to be touched, and the gorgeous colors provide needed contrast to the dusty hues of rock and stone.

And, why not go one better by tucking in rock garden plants? Succulents like hens-and-chickens will create their own secondary patterns in the garden wall as they self-propagate, or try tiny flowering alpines for a winsome look. Perhaps best of all, you can engage two more senses - smell and taste - by adding small edible herbs to the decorative wall. A pluck of flowering chives, a patch of savory thyme, a plot of spicy oregano amongst the rocks and decorative tiles will invite your garden visitors to see, smell, taste and touch. Add a wind chime nearby and all 5 senses will be honored in this special corner of your yard.

In these busy times, so many people can benefit from coming across a quiet corner to sit in, to be in, to admire beauty and soak up the sunshine. Isn't there a spot in your garden just waiting for you to turn it into such a haven for yourself and your loved ones? We invite you to browse our huge collection of garden tiles to get you dreaming about transforming a space in your yard into a sanctuary for the senses. Don't see something you're looking for? Please, contact us. We can find almost any garden tile design you'd like and we'd love to help you start creating your own decorative tile wall!

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Have you redone a space in your home or created something pretty with tiles purchased from Cape Cod Treasure Chest? Send us photos of your project and share your pride in your creative home improvements with us. We're really interested.