Gardening Design Tips on a Small Budget

Designing your own garden – DIY style – is never easy, especially if you’re doing so in a tight budget. But sometimes, you just have to do it. Trying to avoid spending thousands of dollars for professional gardening design is perfectly reasonable, and having the courage to actually push your plans forward is commendable. But you should at least know what you’re doing and be familiar with the basics of garden design.

Here are the gardening design tips and ideas you should adhere if you’re on a small budget:

Have a Master plan

Make no mistake – money still matters regardless of your budget.You can’t afford wasting money on a garden design that’s inconsistent. Not to mention the risk of spending even more money for design or plotting mistakes. This is why planning your garden design from start to finish is always the first step.

A common strategy would be to create three sections in your garden. First, figure out the main area where most of the plants will be. It might be tempting to put chairs or benches in these areas, but it’s better to focus on the whole ‘experience’ of the garden by designating a separate sitting/resting area, which is preferably shaded.These are crucial elements to any garden design.

The third section depends on the size of the garden and inspiration behind the design. A hammock, a ‘stargazing’ area, a paved walkway; there are endless possibilities when it comes to planning the three main areas of your garden. Sometimes, you can only realize the best third area after finding the inspiration behind your garden design, which brings us to the next tip of garden design on a budget.

Choosing an Inspiration or Theme

Knowledge is also an issue, especially when you’re still in the phase of calculating the costs of your garden plan. This is why you should never pass on the opportunity to learn new gardening stuff from various sources. This includes gardening magazines, books, and websites where you can ‘borrow’ design ideas.

Let your creativity work by letting it come up with more cost-effective ways to borrow some design elements. Browsing Pinterest posts about small garden design would be a good place to start. Alternatively, you can simply look for inspiration from neighborhoods or vacation houses. It can be a famous place like Beverly Hills California or somewhere on the other side of the globe like Country Club Homes Tagaytay.

Maximize Space

There will always be something elegant in a spacious garden. And if you’re on a budget, a good strategy would be to have less to get more design-wise. There are many ways for you to maximize space when designing your garden. For starters, you should always plan with mature plant sizes in mind. If you over plant a specific section of your garden, you might needlessly spend more money later on for relocation.

You can also make your garden ‘appear’ larger than it actually is by creating diagonal paths, which should disguise the rectangular or square shape of your garden.When it comes to stepping stones, aim for laying down a longer, thinner path that winds throughout your garden instead of a wide and straight one.

Recycle Wood

If you’re still deciding what to put in that ‘third area’ of your garden plan, then you may want to look inside your house and look for something wooden.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on outdoor furniture if you want a stunning garden. If you have old wooden furniture (benches, lawn chairs, stools, end table, etc.), then you can use them as outdoor design pieces and utilize their surfaces for potted plants or flowers. Again, you should let your imagination work and consider all sorts of wooden stuff, like a wooden ladder or the crates you’ve been hiding in the attic.

Let nature take over and allow the wood to gain character from the outdoor environment. For example, if the paint of your blue, wooden bench is fading, then you shouldn’t waste money by trying to repaint it. Just put some of your potted plants all around it and let the fading paint give it a rustic finish.