Beverly Hills Garden Decor

 The rich are different, or so the saying goes, and Beverly Hills garden decor is above and beyond the landscaping ornaments chosen by regular folk.

Outdoor fountains are a favorite landscaping element among the upper classes, particularly for those living in Italian-style villas. The mostly European-style fountains are either custom built or, often, imported at great expense and reassembled on site, piece by piece.

The calming sounds of water trickling through one's own 19th century fountain is both a charming addition to lawn decor and a none-too-subtle display of wealth.

The city of Beverly Hills, in conjunction with the County of Los Angeles, also maintains a number of public gardens that offer inspiration to those looking for the finest in garden decor. The six-acre Virginia Robinson Gardens, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is actually five separate gardens. A country's largest selection of tropical plams, banana trees and plumeria is located there, as well as an Italian terrace garden filled with gardenias, azaleas and a stunning array of both citrus and specimen trees. The gardens surround a Mediterranean Classic Revival residence, built in 1911, that was the first home built in Beverly Hills.

While Beverly Hills' famed Rodeo Drive is still the place to go for high-end clothing, the city's residents haunt nearby Santa Monica and West Hollywood when shopping for garden decor. Armani Casa, on Robertson Blvd., is a Georgio Armani "lifestyle store" which, in addition to offering $20,000 sofas, sells lighting, accents and furniture for upscale outdoor spaces. It's the place to go when you need an oak deck chair that costs as much as a new car.

If you want to add the feeling of Beverly Hills garden decor to your own yard, however, you don't have to go into debt. A few well-placed pieces of garden art will "class up" your landscaping, whether you spend a hundred dollars on a glazed ceramic birdbath or a thousand bucks on a bronze garden statue. And mid-price outlets like Target now sell everything from Victorian gazing balls and faux-copper sundials to teak patio furniture – so creating the illusion of Beverly Hills garden decor in your suburban back yard is well within your reach.