Top tips for a budget friendly garden
Spending quality time in your garden is a great way to extend the comfort of your living space – and make the most of your home.
Whether your entertaining, relaxing, or simply enjoy gardening, your outdoor space will offer several opportunities to take pleasure in, no matter how big or small. And, what’s more – you don’t need to have a huge budget to create a garden that you want to spend time in.
We’ve teamed up with Marshalls, who supply garden products to our Beautiful Borders and Showcase Gardens at BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, to give you five top tips to make the most of your garden on a budget – so you can enjoy it with friends and family all year round.
Written by Marshalls
Be self-sufficient
Consider building your own planters or outdoor seating using waste wood from another project, or you can access timber from your local builders’ merchant. Take inspiration from social media and online guides– there are plenty of tools available online to truly “do it yourself”. You could also think about creating your very own kitchen garden – and we don’t mean a high-flying al fresco restaurant! Convert a section of your garden into a vegetable patch and “grow your own”, so you can enjoy a new past time while watching the pennies too.
Create a biodiverse space
Perhaps the easiest and cheapest way to give your patio a quick boost is to add new plants for a pop of colour, they can look especially great in a mix of different sized pots set at angles on natural coloured paving. Whether you go for pansies, or you opt for swathes of violet lobelia, good old-fashioned begonias, prolific geraniums with their distinctive scent, or sweet busy lizzies, you’ll enjoy vibrant colours which will freshen up any patio. You can also be safe in the knowledge that you’re creating a beautifully biodiverse space in your very own home.
Sitting pretty
The key to spending time outdoors is to make it comfy; and the right set of furniture can do wonders when you want to update your patio on a budget. Buying your furniture second hand is a great way to save money and make it more affordable, a fresh lick of exterior paint will give it a new lease of life. Whether you buy from local shops or take a browse on Facebook marketplace, there are a range of furniture sets waiting to be the perfect addition to your garden space.
Become ‘wasteless’
With the ever-growing change to our climate, investing in a wasteless garden can benefit you for years to come. Think about the drainage of your garden, and perhaps consider a landscape that needs little (or a mix) of watering. Investing in a patio area may save you money in the long term when considering up-keep of large, grassy areas. Permeable paving is also a great option for your front garden, to ensure your drive has sufficient drainage when needed.
Mix and match
This energetic trend provides plenty to catch the eye. Planting at different levels and using a mix of paving sizes and colours in a clever composition with a bit of creative flair, provides an impressive and affordable outdoor space. Choose a paving that’s available in a variety of sizes and/or colours to create extra interest and contrast. Richmond Utility Paving is one affordable option that can be used to great effect in a mixed media patio, or Organa is another popular option.
If you have any advice you’d like to ask our friends at Marshalls, make sure to find out more on their website here.
Plus, did you see the Marshalls Sustainability Garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2022? Find out more here.
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