INSECT & FISH GARDEN POKES

My family and I live in a cozy little place nestled in Central Minnesota. You betcha! A state filled with hotdish, hockey & sweet corn. We’re blessed to have beautiful summers, which usually means in our family- landscaping & planting. As well as recruiting my hubby to be the muscles in our lil’ outfit. Our yard is peppered with perennial beds and rock gardens, just how I like it. Thanks to my momma who gave me a green thumb and the art of horticulture.

There is always room for another flower bed…and in our case, there is always room for a homemade garden poke. Which I took the liberty to make for our very own front yard.

We have a few metal garden accents already in the flowers along with some cement snails, but I wanted something homemade and unique.

I had a vision of a wooden fish tucked within the flowers & weeds like it was swimming around some coral. One of my favorites is the Angler fish (one of those deep-sea dwellers). With it’s luminescent bulb that acts as bait to lure fish into it’s mouth. Yes! That one! And so the wood cutting and sanding began.

Tropical colors were used to brighten those parts of the yard and a topcoat of polyurethane coating was applied for weather protection. Now they were set! I used a 3-foot section of rebar for the garden poke part and was able to use metal wire to render that “dangly” piece of the Angler fish. At the end of the metal wire hangs a camping light for the luminescent bits.

Oh, and the metal parts around the eyes…those two pieces were from an old door knob. I thought it added a little whimsy to her character. She’s got a personality for sure and greets us when we get home from work with a big toothy smile. Yes, she has some gnarly teeth. But a smile is still a smile.

Since the creation of the pink lipped Angler fish I’ve wanted to make a whole brood of characters for the yard. A mermaid over here, a little crab over there…maybe a school of guppies over here. The world is my oyster! And the wood cutting has just begun.