How to Use ornamental in a Sentence

ornamental

1 of 2 adjective
Definition of ornamentalnext
Synonyms for ornamentalnext
  • The garden has many ornamental shrubs.
  • Many of the trees were ornamental – flowering beasts with spliced genes that made fruit so hard and sour the waxwings couldn’t eat it.
    — Various Staff Writers, Special Correspondents, and Special Contributors, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Dec. 2023
  • There are sweet basils, Thai basils, holy basil and ornamental basils.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2022
  • And its ornamental design adds a homey feel even when it’s not lit.
    — Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 7 Sep. 2023
  • The insects tend to gather in large numbers on host plants and feed on a wide range of fruit, ornamental and woody trees.
    — Fox News, 27 July 2022
  • Direct the wash water to fruit trees and ornamental plants.
    — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Jan. 2023
  • An easy to grow hedge or foundation plant, one of the best ornamental fruiting shrubs.
    — Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 22 Oct. 2022
  • There was a full orchestra, a full choir, two dozen ornamental bay trees.
    — Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Dec. 2023
  • All of these products are safe to use on both ornamental plants and edibles.
    — Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 4 Feb. 2023
  • Use them to create a trail of light through a planting bed, down a path, or among ornamental grasses, as pictured here.
    — Sunset Magazine, 10 Dec. 2022
  • This ornamental perennial can grow up to four feet high and bears blooms that smell like fresh pineapple.
    — Laurren Welch, Country Living, 28 July 2022
  • Opt for a small in-ground pond that can function as an ornamental water feature.
    — Rachel Silva, ELLE Decor, 10 Mar. 2023
  • That stela was thought to depict a woman, as the figure wore an ornamental headdress and was shown with items such as mirrors, combs, belts and brooches.
    — Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023
  • From a landscape standpoint, catmint is considered the more ornamental choice of the two plants.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 June 2023
  • The best ornamental grass varieties wear many hats in a garden.
    — Kate McGregor, House Beautiful, 13 July 2023
  • It can also be used for ornamental purposes and is a very easy vegetable to grow.
    — Zoe Denenberg, Southern Living, 21 Aug. 2023
  • The ornamental fish are meant for bowls, aquariums, fountains and ponds.
    — Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Aug. 2022
  • So are ornamental species such as spirea, mountain ash, goatsbeard, and ninebark.
    — Deb Wiley, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Feb. 2024
  • The delicate color provides a neutral backdrop for the more ornamental pieces, such as the four-poster bed.
    — Katherine Owen, Southern Living, 6 Dec. 2023
  • Filipinos around the world hold one Christmas symbol above the rest: the parol, a traditional ornamental lantern that adorns streets, homes, malls and buildings in the Philippines.
    — Hannah Dormido, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023
  • The formal gardens in the abode’s rear display a water feature that runs through its center, fed by two ornamental ponds.
    — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 6 May 2023
  • Emerick said that topiary, the practice of pruning trees and shrubs into ornamental shapes dates, dates back at least to the time of the Egyptian pharaohs.
    — Mary Carole McCauley, Baltimore Sun, 18 Aug. 2023
  • The building now sits empty, the garden overgrown and a big rusting lock hanging on its ornamental gate.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024
  • An excellent choice for a small ornamental tree with year-round interest is the kumquat or one of its relatives.
    — Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 27 Jan. 2024
  • More crows and skeletons were seen laid out on the side cabinets — and one ornamental skeleton of a dog also made an appearance.
    — Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 24 Sep. 2023
  • Add an ornamental throw over your duvets to tie it all together.
    — Halee Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Pick up a custom arrangement or just snap a pic in front of the pink and gold bursts of Mexican marigolds while breathing in the scent of 5,000 varieties of flowers and ornamental plants.
    — Megan Wood, Travel + Leisure, 8 June 2023
  • Boxwoods that are trimmed into ornamental shapes can become weak with dead branches in the center.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 27 Mar. 2024
  • Lots of plants, both edible and ornamental, can get powdery mildew.
    — Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 May 2022
  • There are so many in fact that the resort employs a specialist to care for these usually ornamental creatures.
    — Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 7 July 2023
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ornamental

2 of 2 noun
  • The garden has many beautiful ornamentals.
  • They can be found on many fruits and vegetables, ornamentals, and shade trees.
    — The Editors, Good Housekeeping, 10 July 2018
  • The temperatures are still cool, the sun is still low in the sky and the days are still short enough to water all ornamentals just occasionally.
    — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Caterpillars will feed on the foliage and flowers of ornamentals and the foliage and fruit of vegetables.
    — Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 13 May 2017
  • If herbicides are used, do not plant herbaceous ornamentals or shrubs in that area.
    — OregonLive.com, 21 Oct. 2017
  • Greywater is best used on trees, shrubs, and large ornamentals.
    — Deanna Kizis, Sunset Magazine, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Fruit pruning doesn’t follow the rules for ornamentals.
    — Margaret Roach, New York Times, 5 May 2020
  • Among trees listed on the plans are maples, birch, ginkgoes, white firs and white pine, along with such ornamentals as redbud, dogwood, magnolia and lilacs.
    — Rick Romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 June 2019
  • And as the flowers appear just a step ahead of the leaves, the showers of pink flowers from these three star ornamentals are particularly dazzling.
    — Earl Nickel, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2018
  • My plantings grow clustered with other ornamentals kept in containers or in the ground.
    — Tom MacCubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • The virus affects many other plants, such as tomatoes, squash, beans, cucumbers and some ornamentals.
    — Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 23 Aug. 2017
  • Watch fruit trees and ornamentals such as pyracantha, for signs of fireblight.
    — Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Twelve years later, Bennett and her team have designed around 200 gardens, all of which integrate the ornamental with the edible.
    — Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 13 June 2022
  • If the lanternfly moves into your garden, the biggest problem may not be its weakening of ornamentals.
    — Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 26 June 2019
  • Favorite foods include crinum lily, amaryllis and day lily plants, but they may be found on other ornamentals and edibles.
    — Tom MacCubbin, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Ornamec kills grasses and can be applied over some ornamentals.
    — Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 7 Aug. 2017
  • Such was the objective in pruning hardy kiwifruits planted as ornamentals at old estates.
    — The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Lawns are in retreat as gardeners want more space for treasured plants, for rain gardens, for pollinator gardens and even as a place to tuck herbs and other culinary plants in with the ornamentals.
    — Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2019
  • The forested German landscape is in the grips of traumatic change, from the brightly flowered Asian ornamentals bursting among the river cane to the dying conifer spending its last energies in a final burst of cones.
    — National Geographic, 13 Jan. 2020
  • That heirloom trend has spread through many crops and ornamentals, from apples to zinnias, with scores of new/old varieties brought back into nursery catalogs each year.
    — Debbie Arrington, sacbee, 13 Oct. 2017
  • Forsythia shrubs are beginning to provide a golden display in Northern Ohio, Pieras is in full flower and other ornamentals seem prepared to bloom at the first sign of warm weather.
    — cleveland, 27 Mar. 2020
  • Oak trees in many towns appear to be the favorite choice of the caterpillars, but residents say many other varieties have been hit as well, including apple trees and expensive ornamentals.
    — Gregory B. Hladky, courant.com, 30 June 2017
  • Deep green, textured foliage makes this variety an excellent ornamental for arbors or training against a wall.
    — Earl Nickel, SFChronicle.com, 7 Aug. 2020
  • An unnamed elephant ear is most likely to be Colocasia esculenta, the food plant taro, which also makes an impressive ornamental.
    — Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 17 May 2021
  • This looks like Parney cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lacteus), a native of China used as an ornamental.
    — oregonlive, 27 Dec. 2020
  • There are lots of varieties, some ornamental and others edible.
    — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 26 May 2022
  • There are some retail insecticide products as well as other insecticides that are labeled for these pests in ornamentals.
    — oregonlive, 11 June 2023
  • Ornamec is an example of an herbicide that selectively kills grasses and can be applied over some ornamentals.
    — Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 26 May 2017
  • With its bold form, contorted branching, unique bark and decorative clusters of large pods rattling in the wind, Kentucky coffee tree is an exceptional winter ornamental.
    — D.j. Scully, Cincinnati.com, 25 Aug. 2017
  • Oils kill by suffocation and are a great low toxicity way to control a variety of insects on ornamentals and vegetables.
    — NOLA.com, 28 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ornamental.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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