Halloween might be my favorite holiday of the year. Where others may see a challenge to come up with creative ideas, I see an opportunity to get inspired and think of unique ideas to liven up my front yard with spooky and thrilling outdoor Halloween decorations.
But if you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, I see you!
Coming up with original garden Halloween decorations can be intimidating. Many Halloween-themed decorations are available in stores and online, which can be overwhelming. These decorations also tend to lack originality and might feel a bit too basic.
But before you give up, below, you’ll find 10 spooky Halloween gardening ideas to help you decorate your space for the upcoming festivities.
These outdoor Halloween decoration ideas are easy to make at home and require little preparation; thus, they are great options if you have a busy life and don’t want to spend too much time decorating.
So, even if you’re completely uninspired, I’m sure you’ll find some gruesome decorations and Halloween garden ideas below. Happy haunting!
Table of Contents
1. Skeleton Garden Bed
Make the most out of your fall blooms by creating a skeleton graveyard!
Decorate your flower beds with plastic skeletons and tombstones to make it seem like the dead are crawling out of your garden beds, and create a haunted garden!
This project will work especially well with orange or red-colored seasonal flowers. Use fall-blooming varieties such as Chrysanthemum, Pansies, or Roses with bright colors against the dark background of your garden bed in the fall season.
Creeping plants like English Ivy are great to add to your skeleton graveyard, as they can crawl around and through the skeletons and across the garden path for an extra haunted appearance.
My Recommendations:
- Plastic Skeletons (Check Prices!)
- Garden Tombstones (Check Prices!)
2. Put Your Dying Plants on Display
Of course, no one wants their beloved houseplants to wither away and die. But in reality, it happens to the best of us. So why not make the best of it?
Instead of throwing out your dying greens, consider giving them one last life as spooky Halloween decorations. Get creative and fill your front porch with long, spindly vines, crispy black stems, and large, withered leaves.
Tip: Decorate the plants and planters with fake cobwebs or add spotlights from below to exaggerate the spooky vibe in your front lawn! Since the plants are past saving, you can even use black spray paint to make the plants black.
My Recommendations:
- Fake Cobwebs (Check Prices!)
- Halloween Spotlights (Check Prices!)
3. DIY Floral Scarecrow
The best part about holidays like Halloween is that they are a great excuse to get creative and start exciting DIY projects!
Scarecrows are popular Halloween decorations, but buying them online might quickly get boring. So, why not create your very own DIY scarecrow?
This way, you can create something that is truly unique and shows your personal preference! Local craft stores and the dollar store are great places to find most of the materials needed for this DIY project.
Adding glow-in-the-dark eyes, black ribbon, and plastic spiders to your scarecrow is an easy way to turn a regular old scarecrow into a Halloween garden décor!
My favorite way to incorporate my love for flowers and plants into this project is by using flowering vines like Clematis or Black-Eyed Suzan and letting these vines creep all through the scarecrow. You can also add hay bales with flowers for a sculptural overall look.
My Recommendations:
- Glow in the Dark Eyes (Check Prices!)
- Plastic Spiders (Check Prices!)
4. Enchant Large Trees with Eyes
If you’ve got a large tree on your front lawn, take advantage of it by hanging or sticking tons of string light eyes onto the bark. You can also add a single pair of eyes you prefer, but I’d recommend adding a ton for the maximum scare factor!
At night, your whole neighborhood will surely get spooked by the large enchanted tree, staring right back at them with dozens of glow-in-the-dark eyes.
This idea can also be used if multiple small trees live on your front lawn. The more eyes, the better!
My Recommendations:
- Glowing Eyes String Lights (Check Prices!)
5. Jack-O-Lantern Planters
Carved pumpkins are perhaps the most popular Halloween decoration idea, but why not step it up?
This year, I plan on using my hand-carved pumpkins as planters for my outdoor plants as a simple way to create Halloween-inspired fall porch decor. You can use a large pumpkin from your garden as a planter if you keep your plant in their nursery pot.
Tip: Adding colored string lights or battery-powered candles to the inside of the pumpkin illuminates your plant’s foliage from below, truly bringing the Halloween spirit to your outdoor area!
Remember that your plants will still need proper care and love if they live in a pumpkin lantern! Continue to check on the plants regularly. I suggest taking the plant out of the lantern to water and care for it, then simply place it back when you’re done.
My Recommendations:
- Pumpkin Colored String Lights (Check Prices!)
- Battery Powered Candles (Check Prices!)
6. Decorate with Black Houseplants
If you do not like to go “all out” during this time of year, simply using spooky-looking plants as Halloween decorations is a great way to make a huge difference in your house’s outdoor space.
Black or dark-leaved plants like the Raven ZZ Plant, Alocasia Amazonica Polly, or Philodendron Black Cardinal don’t just look stunning in your home decor, but they can also be handy assets in your Halloween decorations!
Place them on your front lawn paired with decorative black cats, jack-o-lanterns, or candles, and you’ve got yourself a low-effort but unique Halloween setup!
For extra dark aesthetics, use black-colored planters for these gloomy plants! Don’t have any black pots on hand? No worries. Use black paint to DIY old, unused pots into gorgeous Halloween-themed planters!
My Recommendations:
- Black Cat Decorations (Check Prices!)
7. Creepy Cactus Spiders
If you are a succulent collector, this idea can be a good option to put them in the spotlight for the holiday season. Use hot glue to attach artificial spider legs to your cacti pots to make them look like giant spiders creeping on your front steps; yikes!
Cacti with a fuzzy appearance, such as the Old Man Cactus or the Powder Puff Cactus, are especially suitable for this project. Surround your cacti pots with giant spider webs for the full effect!
Tip: If you own a Monkey’s Tail cactus, use it to your advantage! The stems on this plant already look like hairy spider legs, making them the perfect fit for this idea. Get creative and maximize your live plant collection during this spooky season!
My Recommendations:
- Giant Spider Scarecrow (Check Prices!)
8. Ghosts Caught in Climbing Vines
Have you got climbing vines on your outdoor walls, such as Ivy, Climbing Hydrangea, or Roses? Dress them up in Halloween spirits by adding white ghosts or skeleton ghosts entangled in the vines and leaves.
Use fishing line and long ropes to attach the ghosts. Another great idea is to DIY your ghosts with white sheets!
Additionally, you can add a few plastic bones and body parts to the vines to make it seem like people got strangled in your greenery and their ghosts are stuck in the plants.
Another option is to add witch legs, hats, and broomsticks to make it seem like witches got stuck in your plants while flying around your garden!
My Recommendations:
- White Ghosts (Check Prices!)
- Skeleton Ghosts (Check Prices!)
- Bones and Body Parts (Check Prices!)
- Witches Legs, Hat, and Broomstick (Check Prices!)
9. DIY Eyeball Halloween Wreath
If you’ve got a little extra time on hand, creating your own wreath is an easy and fun project that is popular during the Christmas season. But did you know you can easily upgrade your homemade wreath by adding spooky elements such as faux eyeballs and cobwebs?
A Halloween-inspired fall wreath on your front door is the perfect way to set the mood for a Halloween party.
Tip: You can also play around with different plant materials to make this project more suitable for Halloween. Add dead branches instead of fresh green ones to maximize the spooky effect of your wreath!
My Recommendations:
- Cobwebs (Check Prices!)
- Eyeballs (Check Prices!)
10. Create Garden Monsters from Plants
Sometimes, less is more, and using what you already have will give you the best results. One of my favorite Halloween garden ideas is adding monster eyes or arms to my plants.
Simply stick the eyes and arms inside the soil to make it seem like your plant has a face, and soon, you’ll have a garden full of spooky little Halloween monsters!
A fun bonus is that you can use this trick on both potted and garden plants.
An easy way to enhance the monstrous effect is to add tiny tombstones and zombie heads around your plant to showcase its poor victims!
My Recommendations:
- Monster Eyes (Check Prices!)
- Monster Arms (Check Prices!)
Credits:
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