Garage sales and collecting junk took on a whole new meaning for me recently. I had never been a garage-sale junkie, nor had I ever had the patience to go rummaging through other people’s stuff. I had plenty of my own.

However, I have been collecting and displaying various types of garden art long before it was the “in” thing to do. Collecting junk, I realized, would take my garden art to a new dimension. I have since seen much of this junk for sale in boutique garden shops for substantial prices.

My junk collecting began when I threw away the base of an old bow rake and, shortly thereafter, saw another one displayed in a magazine with small tools like trowels and weeders hanging from its prongs.

Why didn’t I think of this functional idea? I did find another rake base at a garage sale and it now hangs on my fence as a tool organizer. This was the beginning of my new hobby (think “addiction”).

One day, I had the pleasure of visiting the small backyard of a talented local artist who paints large items and pots. To me, this yard was like a paradise, filled with broken pots sunk into the soil with flowers spilling from them. Old window frames and trellises were placed artistically around the property.

I found a book called “Garden Junk” by Mary Randolph Carter. As I thumbed through it, I was amazed to see all the various ways to transform junk into art. I purchased the book and read it carefully to really absorb the spirit of the junk collector. It opened my mind to endless possibilities.

At one particularly large property sale, the owner was a big-time collector of anything and everything, much of which was truly junk. There were rooms, garages, sheds and many garden areas filled with interesting, old broken items for sale at rock-bottom prices.

I went home with my VW camper full of stuff but with no idea how I would use any of it. Later, on a Master Gardener field trip, I visited a garden whose owner had created functional art from tree stumps, fencing and old broken items. I couldn’t wait to create my own art.

I had a large, bare space in my yard that was mostly bedrock, perfect for some of my collection. I created several areas using old tools, furniture, tree stumps, rusty metal creatures, household items and even an old wallpaper roller from Belgium.

The idea of creating garden art or functional items from junk has quickly caught on, which means that funky, rusty items at garage sales now go for more than you might imagine. But it is still fun to prowl for something that might be a good fit in your garden. Garden art is all in the eye of the beholder.

This partial list of possibilities may spark your imagination:

• For containers to hold plants or rock and shell collections, consider baskets, kitchen pots, buckets, old barbecues, barrels in different sizes, colanders, hiking boots, wine boxes, old cedar drawers and watering cans.

• From old wood fencing, you can create bird houses or feeders, signs, racks, mini-fencing, trellises, arbors, plant stakes, pot stands, swings or tool holders.

• To create atmosphere, pick up some old light fixtures, wine corks, wine bottles, Mason jars for hanging candle holders, old silverware to make tinkling wind chimes, rags to make flags that blow in the breeze, old window frames to create a new vista, wood doors to make tables, old cotton clothing to make tablecloths, pillows or napkins to mix and match, or broken pottery and tiles for mosaics.

Take stock of your own belongings first. You are bound to have treasures with potential you did not realize. Tuck your finds behind foliage to create delightful surprises or display them in full view.

You can leave your collected treasures as they are, or use your imagination to transform them into garden ornaments. As you will discover, creating art is all about seeing the world and materials around us in a new way.

Napa County Master Gardeners answer gardening questions Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the UC Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa, 253-4221, or 877-279-3065.