Free Backyard Landscaping Ideas
I love the pictures on this page... especially the top one. Looks like all the pics I see in all the gardening magazines I subscribe to. But it doesn't help me at all, because the hardscaping alone is well above my budget, and I have no gardener working diligently to keep it all looking great. How can I achieve something nearly as pretty on a retiree's budget and just my own two hands to manage it?
This is indeed the problem we all face - in one way or other -when we want something to look great and do it on a limited budget.
A Personal Note
I 'm a rich man. But not in financial terms.
While sometimes I might wish I were, the reality of being in the nursery and writing business is that I haven 't managed to find a pathway to financial riches. Having said that, I have some things that rich people can only dream of getting and no amount of money is going to bring them a happy family or a loving partner.
Or a wonderful garden filled with their own soul.
Still With Me?
OK - here 's how I manage to make my garden look like a magazine garden.
There are several deceptively simple things I do. And if you do these things, you too can have a great garden without spending a lot of money - we 're talking budget gardening here folks.
Things That Don 't Work Together
In order to have a great garden and do it using free backyard landscaping ideas and budget landscaping techniques is that you have to know *how* to garden. If you don 't understand or want to learn a few simple techniques to have a wonderful backyard garden, then nothing else I 'm going to tell you is going to make much sense.
In plain talk - you can 't have a budget landscaping project - with no skills or no enthusiasm or a willingness to work hard. You have to have the willingness to learn new skills and work as hard as you can.
Learn to propagate plants.
If you think I've purchased every plant that ever went into my garden, you don 't know me or my Scottish heritage upbringing.
I've learned how to grow all kinds of plants from seeds, cuttings, divisions and roots.
The only way to get free plants is to grow them yourself.
General gardening skills.
You need to know how to water.
You need to know how to feed your plants and you need to know how to prune your plants and take cuttings and propagate.
Once you master those three skills (watering, feeding, propagating), your garden will look 500% better just because of the gardener 's touch.
Those are free skills for the learning. But ignore these skills and no amount of free backyard landscaping ideas or advice from me is going to change a darn thing in your yard.
Scrounge:
You read right. You 'd be amazed what kinds of things you can pick up from salvage yards (like plywood for window boxes). Or go behind the big box lumber stores and look at what they toss away. There 's enough stuff there to build any number of window boxes and planter stands.
How about salvage yards for brick landscaping jobs.
What about contacting local landscapers and asking them when they redo a landscaping job - can you come around and take the old pavers?
What about freecycle.org or your local free Internet want-ad sites such as Craigslist or Kajijii. You won 't believe how much free stuff is there and with a bit of patience, you can find darn near anything you need or want.
Put up your own ad in the spring with what you 're looking for (haul it away free for you to remove it from your renovation project).
Get creative about finding stuff. Talk to tree trimming services, you 're going to find a ready source of wood chips for mulch.
Get Creative
You don't have to be "creative" and "artsy" here. Just ask the right question. (see below)Free backyard landscaping ideas aren 't only found in gardening magazines and websites. Go through a craft or building magazine and ask, How can I use *that* idea in my backyard garden? ”
Go through a house-building magazine - what kinds of walls coverings are the green architects” using? What kinds of surface coverings? What construction materials?
The question is - not what are these folks using these materials for - but rather what can I use this stuff for in my garden?
Read
Yeah, I know - you get told this all the time but read magazines, scan websites looking for great pictures. But it 's true. The more you read- the more you learn and the more ideas you pick up.
Books are free at the local library. So you don 't even have to buy them yourself.
Bottom Line
OK, that was all the good news about free backyard landscaping ideas - the stuff you can do.
My reality is that I can 't create a great looking garden overnight.
I do what I can - learn what I need, afford what I can and move on.
The hardscape goes in as I can afford it and the plants follow along. And when I have enough plants (if you ever have enough plants), then I 'm propagating more and upgrading the hardscape.
It 's a creative process in my garden that never stops, never ceases to amuse me.
And that 's the important part of gardening.
Add Your Frugal Gardening or Landscaping Suggestions Right Here
If you have a suggestion that will save other gardeners money on their landscaping - here's the place to add it.
Share what has worked well for you! :-)
Here are some of the ideas other readers have suggested
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Found objects in the garden On my walks through fields in our new subdivision I had found a wooden gothic shutter (from a farmhouse demolition) carried it home and attached it to ...
Topping off those Flower Stakes I needed to mark where I moved some Perennials this past fall so I used thin bamboo stakes. As these were tall I left them in the garden and used those ...
Free aids to propagation The "clam shell" clear plastic containers that hold salad leaves in the supermarket are no longer recyclable in our area. Reuse is better than recycling ...
"Useless" Garden Tools I picked up an old, old garden rake, a hoe, and an unidentified tool with a long handle for twenty-five cents each at a yard sale. I pushed the handles ...
Rock Picking Stones are a real boost to your beds as they add a touch of interest, look like they are meant to be there as if naturally erupting from the environment ...
free mulch from public spaces The maintenance man at our county courthouse has a big lawn to maintain and at this time of the year there are plenty of trees dropping their leaves. He ...
Two thrifty ideas 1. Free manure = free fertilizer. Find a livestock farmer or horse stables and offer to clean out their stalls if you get to keep the manure. If possible,...
Using old rain gutters I learnt the other day that old guttering along a fence is a great way to grow lettuce, etc. The person who was using this method had a great display ...
Re:Free-Cycl'd Stone's [various types], into garden walls, paths, and raised-bed areas. HI ALL: It's not an big or new idea, but if you live nearby a re:development, infill residential area, contractors, builders, are often 'throwing away-...
mulch for recycling
mulch can be good 2 ways - to keep moisture in your flower or vegetable patch and to smother things you don't want.
For smothering, recycle newspaper ...
Newbie Homeowner
Doug,
You are awesome and I love your no-nonsense style. It gives me confidence to work with people that tell it like it is.
Reuse-
I thought I was ...
FRIENDS/NEIGHBORS SWAP How about sharing with other friends and neighbors? We do loads of plant swaps here in New England. Bring a plant...take a plant and get to know your garden ...
Bark for Pathway Materials My friend gave me a trunkload of bark slabs that her husband had removed from trees he had cut for firewood. They make attractive paths, as most are 20-...
Frugal Plant Shopping with Canadian Tire Money I save all the Canadian tire money during the year and at the end of summer when plants go for .49C or so I purchase what I can. They may not bloom that ...
Auctions and Other Frugal Gardening Tips I've bought a lot of old wheel barrels, garden pots, window boxes, and even a fountain that sits in the yard/garden and such for dirt cheap just going ...
Seeds Rather than Plants I guess this is a no-brainer but I buy and trade seeds rather than purchasing plants. It may take an extra year for a perennial to produce flowers, but ...
Sell your extra perennials Years ago I wanted to start some interesting geraniums (annuals) but the price at 25 cents a seed seemed hard to justify. I quieted my conscience by buying ...
share plants with your neighbours I have great neighbours. We have shared boxwoods, California redwood saplings, red western cedar saplings, flowers, tree sprouts that come up in the yard,...
Compost! Part of landscaping includes not only water, pruning, propagating, but also composting. Part of that garden shall also include a compost pile strategically ...
Join a Garden Club Most communities have a Garden Club with very knowledgable people who know local conditions, have tons of good advice, sometimes will drop by to do a "walk ...
almost dead flowers, trees & bushes Go to any box garden store and you will find plants that no one will bring home. Almost ead. Bring them home anyway and baby them back to health. Most ...
Raised Garden Beds When you got lousy soil then plant on top by using raised beds from landscape timbers. Add mulch to the bottom of bed and then mix in good soil, manure ...
use the same plants every year The way I have always had a cheap and beautiful garden is buying perrinials when they go on sale at the end of the season and planting them the next year....
Bad views If you have a bad view, such as an ugly building past your fence, don't try to cover or screen it out completely. If it's big then that can be an impossible ...
Start Groundcover Before You Need It If you know you will need ground cover in a year or so, buy a flat now and split it up into a number of flats or pots. I planted a whole hillside with ...
free plants When you see a garden that you like and can manage to see the gardener as well, ask him or her for cuttings and for plants that need periodic division ...
Help others divide for free transplants Look for larger, well established gardens in your area. Perhaps the owner would like some help in the spring or fall with dividing, and would be happy ...
Plant Exchanges Once you learn to propagate plants you have, look for plant exchanges in your area - often run by local garden clubs. It's a way to trade the extras you'...
