Spooky Garden Ideas for Halloween

by Contemporary Garden October 15, 2021

It's the spooky season and that means it won't be long till it's Halloween. If you're into adding a bit of fright or fun to your home this October, here are some spooky garden ideas for Halloween. But if you're not into celebrating Halloween, there are plenty of ideas in this article that are still great for Autumnal updates to your garden.

Halloween Garden Ideas for Different Areas

Whether you want to go all out, or prefer something more subtle, we've put together our favourite Halloween garden ideas for 2021. Each different area includes small additions and big horror changes, so there's something for everyone.

Front Door and Porch Decorations

This is the classic place to update your garden for any season. The porch or front door should be the focal point for any guest arriving at your home. Here are some ideas to create the perfect autumnal look to welcome people to your home.

A wreath is always a great item to include for theme updates. You can make or buy a wreath and attach it to the door. This is the easiest decoration to create. A classic wreath could feature autumnal coloured foliage and perhaps some miniature pumpkins. To go for something more spooky, feature Halloween related items like spiders, skulls or vampire fangs.
Create a pumpkin patch. The jack-o'-lantern is a classic Halloween prop. A jack-o'-lantern is a carved pumpkin, turnip, or other root vegetable, that normally features a face on it. They often have a candle inside to create a glowing effect. But if you want something less scary, plain pumpkins or painted pumpkins can provide the same 'Fall' effect.

The Garden Path

If you've got your front door sorted, why not guide your guests to the entrance with a mysterious pathway. Here are a few ideas to employ leading up to your house.

A lit path will always be enticing to wander up. Utilising regular garden lighting for a more contemporary look, or line a path with glowing, carved pumpkins if you want to make it more fun. Electric tea lights can be a good option if you are worried about flames burning the pumpkins too quickly, or you think they may get blown out in the wind.
An eerie walkway can create the right effect if you are planning a spooky soirée. Use fake cobwebs across the garden path, hung between fences, trees or temporary posts to give your visitors the creepy forest vibe. Hang fake spiders along the route for an extra fright.
Want to creep your guests out by going one step further? Make fake gravestones and place them in the ground on the lead up to the house. Feature your guests' names on them to up the scare factor.

Halloween Hedges

If you have hedges in or around your property, you can use them to great effect for Halloween decorations.

They are watching you! You can purchase twinkling lights that look like eyes watching you in the darkness. These fun little products often look like demonic eyes and can be placed in bushes throughout your property to create the perfect suspenseful atmosphere.
For a less sinister look, use or make giant comedy eyeballs for your hedges and bushes. While they can still make the place feel Halloweeny, they came across as more family-friendly than mysterious eyes in the dark. They are also a good option if you have trick or treaters visiting in the lighter hours of the evening as they can be seen more easily if they don't feature lights in them.
While not something you can create particularly quickly, creating hedges that have more autumnal colours can create the right vibe for the season. If you are looking for more subtle ways to enjoy the holiday, plan in advance the types of shrubs and bushes that can bring those rich, red, orange and yellow hues into your home.

Spooky Garden Fencing Ideas

Just like your hedges, you can utilise your garden fencing in your Halloween designs.

Fences are the easiest way to add decorations to your garden because they are the perfect frame to hang items from. We've all seen beautiful bunting in gardens, so why not add it to your fence too. You could choose autumnal colours or patterns if you don't want the Halloween look. But if you are into the season of the witch, why not create bunting featuring cats, bats and ghosts.
If you have a spare patch of land, you can use a small garden fence that can enclose a miniature graveyard. Like our suggestion above, fake gravestones are the ultimate Halloween garden decoration. By placing a little fence around them, you can make it into a graveyard feature. It's certainly will take a bit more effort, but the effects will be really cool.
Not really into Halloween but autumn has inspired you to update your garden? Why not paint your fencing black? It's a contemporary look that is on-trend at the moment. Plus, if you do decide you want to decorate the garden for Halloween, you'll have the perfect backdrop.

Protecting your Garden For The Season

We hope we've given you some great ideas for autumn and Halloween for your garden this year. Ensure that anything you create and place in your garden is safe for visitors and secure against the weather. We've created lots of helpful guides recently on preparing your garden for winter, including How to protect your fence against the wind? child-safe fencing ideas and winter garden ideas.