A great landscape can add extreme beauty to your otherwise dull front and backyard. However, the high costs of landscaping often repudiate the thought of owning a wonderful landscape. Nursery plants, designer water features and hardscaping materials are quite expensive. Besides, seeking professional help too can burn a hole in the pocket. However, don’t fret. You can landscape your own yard within your budget by following these simple steps. Let’s have a look on how you can save money and create fascinating landscape at the same time.
1. Inexpensive plants
Plants make up a considerable part of landscaping budget. Nurseries sell them at quite hefty rates. However, you can get them at cheap rates at superstores and online store like ebay. Do not expect these plants, thus sourced, to be very healthy. Some of them would definitely die if not properly cared for. But despite all this, they would cost effective. However, remember to take extra care of such inexpensive plants at least initially because they are of inferior quality as compared to nursery grade plants.
2. Container gardening and compost bin
Container gardening saves space, fertilizers and water usage. Use inexpensive containers like cemetery logs for this purpose. You can buy them from yard sales. However, be careful to clean those containers well. Plant related diseases spread out easily if unclean containers are used. For fertilizer, maintain simple compost bin. Fill the bin every day with kitchen wastes, dry leaves and other green wastes. Water the mix regularly. Compost fertilizer is rich with plant nutrients. There are places where you can get such compost fertilizer for free from municipal authorities.
3. Water bill
Water bills make for the hidden expenses. Besides, water is a precious resource. So, saving water should be high on your list. A way out is using drought resistant plants. These plants not only save water but also save your time. You can also install automatic irrigation for your garden to save water. However, such systems do not come cheap.
4. Lawn weeding
People often think that weeds are unwanted plants in a landscaped garden. So, they keep spending on weed killers. But having a certain amount of weeds in your garden is actually beneficial. It brings diversity in your lawn. Instead of killing all weeds, you can trim them to restrict over-growth. Besides, there are weeds like, clover and legumes, which fix nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen fixing is biological process that fertilizes soil. So, certain weeds can actually cut down your spending on fertilizers too.
5. Water feature and patio
A water feature or bricked patio is a ‘must have’ in any landscaped garden. Don’t worry, you don’t need to spend much on them. It is quite easy to build water features on your own with stone and concrete boulders. Inexpensive pond liners and water pumps are available in various shops. You can source stones and boulders from nearby construction sites with permission. There are many DIY projects for building water features. Just follow any one of them.
It won’t be easy for you to build a concrete walkway on your own. Instead, you can opt for brick on sand walkways. They are easy to build without any professional help. Search for innovative do-it-yourself hardscapping projects with recycled items.
Via: Aboutlandscaping
