For most people, their garden is an extension of themselves. A bright cheerful person is likely to have a lot of vibrant color coming from their flowers. Someone who appreciates more tranquil settings may setup a stream with a small water wheel and just sit on their porch and relax. Those people who simply don't care about their property will have dead, burnt grass.
So with a garden being a representation of oneself, it's important to decorate it appropriately; we wouldn't want the neighbors to think you're a crazy person. For some decorating a yard is a piece of cake. They go out to a home and garden store, buy some plants, inexpensive garden statues, maybe something flashy like a gazing ball and then go about setting up their lawn.
There's nothing really wrong with this method other than it's typically no a well planned or thought out design. I've seen many fall victim to having seemingly random decor in their yard. The decor is nice enough looking, it's just thrown about it a chaotic kind of way. Most people would benefit by using creating a theme.
One spectacular garden I've seen was setup as if it were a farm. It had a welcome sign near the front of it greeting any on lookers. The typical scarecrow was placed in the middle of the garden furthering the farm appeal. What made this garden sing, however, was its use of inexpensive garden statues. There was a small population of farmer pigs appearing to do the work in the garden. Decked out with shovels and watering pitchers, these pigs really made the yard shine. There was a three pigs theme going as well with straw, wood, and brick houses in the background, which was a nice touch.
If one knows how to cut wood and paint they could always go with the cute wood cutout approach. These are kind of like garden statues only they're two dimensional cutouts. There is no limit to the creativity of creating one's own decorations. Cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, animal inhabitants, or even just caricatures of friends gardening are just some of the possibilities that some could use for cutouts. In addition to creativity, this method will even save a bundle of money as all the decor is created at home and not bought in a store.
There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to decorate one's yard. Just make sure to work hard and it will be a reflection of oneself. But don't go to crazy with inexpensive garden statues, you wouldn't want to be the "crazy statue neighbor" would you?