Budget Design Ideas for Backyard Landscaping

One especially budget-friendly way to landscape your backyard is by the use of xenoscaping. What that means is the use of plants that are native to your area and therefore lower on maintenance and higher on drought resistance. Because they are from the region in which you live, and do not have to be shipped to the store, the prices for these plants should be lower, whether you plan to shop at a local nursery or a big box gardening center. That means, with xenoscaping instead of traditional landscaping, you are saving money both now and later. Do research online and talk to the person in charge at your plant store of choice for ideas on the best local plants to use.

Another way to do landscaping on a budget is to rely on larger, low maintenance plants for the bulk of the area. It is easy to find a lovely assortment of bushes, both flowering and non-flowering that provide beautiful aesthetics to any landscape project. Because they need to be so widely spaced, you only have to buy a few of them. Once they are established the maintenance will amount mainly to yearly pruning, as the hardier varieties can generally last all year on just the rainfall, without need of extra watering. The drawback to this is that bushes tend to grow more slowly than flowers, but with proper use of fertilizers, this can be sped up considerably.

When looking for cheap landscaping options to fit your budget, do not underestimate the power of inorganic materials and a little extra effort. By use of large sand pathways, you can cut down on the planting area, which will reduce your upfront and future costs. If you have ever made a child’s sandbox, you that a bag of sand is not a particularly expensive item – and a little bit goes a long way. In addition to this, you can replace expensive borders with some simple gravel. Depending on where you live, the ground may yield enough large rocks that you won’t need to buy gravel, but if you do, a bag of all-purpose gravel runs about $3-6. If you want something more colorful, try adding several colors of drink mix to some 5 gallon buckets (1 color per bucket) and soaking some of the gravel in each bucket. This should provide subtle color changes that will add visual interest to your project.

Finally, if you are on a budget, but want a water feature in your yard, skip the expensive fiberglass molds and instead, just buy a child’s wading pool (plastic, not inflatable) or even just a large water-tight planter. Combine them for more shape options. If the color is not to your liking on the pool just use a bit of waterproof paint, or just put a thin layer of soil and rock on the bottom. If you intend to have water plants, you will need this anyway.