Landscaping can be an expensive undertaking.
Even the smallest garden requires significant investment in time, materials and resources.
Luckily, with careful planning, there are plenty of cheap landscaping ideas to make your outdoor space look more beautiful with an expensive feature.
1. Add a Simple Water Feature
A water feature brings life and sound to your outdoor space. It can be as simple as a small fountain or something more elaborate like a cascading water wall.
Whatever your design, adding a water feature will instantly add value to your home.
2. Make Some Room For Flower Bed
While every yard needs proper maintenance and upkeep, flower beds are a simple way to add interest and color to your yard without too much work.
You can create them in rows, along a path, or even in a large swathe across your lawn.
3. Showcase a Boulder
If you have a large rock in your yard, you can showcase it as a landscaping feature.
One way to do this is to create a rock wall or faux boulders.
Rock walls can be fairly inexpensive to create and are a great way to showcase large natural rocks in your yard.
4. Grow Low Maintenance Flowers
Good low-maintenance flowers include zinnias, marigolds, hollyhocks and sunflowers.
Low-maintenance flowers are a great way to spruce up your yard without needing to regularly water or fertilize.
5. Spice Up Ordinary Planters
While you can use more traditional planters, modern containers will make your yard look more stylish and on-trend.
As well as modern containers, you can use materials from other parts of your home to make your planters stand out.
via PMQ For Two
6. Go With Gravel Garden Walkway
Using gravel in your walkway is inexpensive yet stylish for connecting different yard parts.
It is also very easy to keep clean and maintain. You can select a gravel color that matches your home’s exterior or use a bolder color to add interest.
7. Install Planters on Deck Railing
It is a great idea for those who have limited space at the ground level or on a second-story deck.
It is a great way to add visual interest to the deck railing and create a beautiful outdoor space.
8. Build Arch For Flowers
An arch is a great way to add interest to your yard and can be a wonderful place for flowers.
You can easily change the design of the arch for flowers and change out the flowers as you please.
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9. Repurpose Containers for Starting Seeds
If you have a few empty containers around the house, you can use them to start seeds indoors for your garden.
Make sure you clean and sterilize any containers you use to start your seeds.
Containers that have come into contact with chemicals, such as pesticides, can harm your plants.
10. Build a Fire Pit
Fire pits are a great way to add warmth to your yard in the fall and winter and be a great focal point.
Fire pits are fairly inexpensive to build and you can use them all year round.
11. Install Stepping Stones
Stepping stones are a simple and cheap landscaping improvement that can go a long way towards improving the appearance of your yard.
Stepping stones can be made from various materials, including concrete, stone, brick, or recycled materials like crushed tires.
12. Save Your Tender Bulbs
To ensure the bulbs survive, store them in a dry, dark place, such as a cardboard box.
You can plant them in a garden in the fall, or you can plant them in containers, such as buckets and keep them indoors over the winter.
13. Use Mulch To Create Contrast
Mulch is an excellent way to keep the ground and nutrients in your soil from being washed away.
When mulch is used where plants are growing, it also creates contrast and adds to your yard’s overall aesthetics.
14. Make Your Own Planters
Planters are easy to make and you can make them as large or small as you want.
You can make planters from just about any container, such as old tires, wooden barrels and crates. You can also use recycled containers, such as plastic gallon jugs.
via Her Tool Belt
15. Add Mounds to Flat Areas
Mounds can be used to create pathways or add interest to an otherwise dreary lawn.
While this can be beneficial for planting many different plants, it is especially useful for those with a very flat yard.
16. Create a Layered Landscape
Consider a layered landscape if you have a large, open space in your yard that needs some landscaping.
You can create a layered landscape in any yard, but it’s especially helpful in areas with lots of shade or poorly drained.
17. Accent On Driveway Edging
If you have a concrete driveway, you can use decorative edging on the sides to add some style to your front entrance.
Several different materials include concrete, brick, natural stone and synthetic turf.
18. Put in a Small Patio
A patio is another inexpensive way to expand your outdoor living space if you have enough room.
You can choose from a wide range of materials when building a patio floor. However, pavers are one of the most common materials.
19. Landscape Around Your Mailbox
Mailbox is a perfect spot to add a few small plants to spruce up the look of your home.
You can install a mailbox post light to help illuminate the area at night. You can also install a mailbox cover to shield the box from the sun.
20. Create Boxwood Borders
If you have a few shrubs, consider planting them on decorative edges to create a border around your yard.
Boxwood shrubs are often used in landscaping to create borders and walkways because of their dense, low-growing foliage.
21. Garden Edging Around Trees
If you have older trees that you want to protect, consider using garden edging around them to keep your tree safe from foot traffic.
You can easily create a garden edging out of bricks, stones, or even old clay pots.
22. Install Fancy Hose Holder
A hose holder is a great way to bring some style to your front yard while keeping your hose organized and off the ground.
Hose holders come in many different styles, including fancy holders made of copper and wooden holders with holes that provide extra watering for your plants.
via Shanty 2 Chic
23. Downspout Path With Pebbles
It’s an attractive and low-maintenance way to access your backyard and it’s an excellent way to highlight the path leading to your front door.
To create a pebble walkway, all you have to do is fill a tray with decorative gravel or small stones.
via Two Twenty One
24. Use Croton To Add More Color
If you want to add more color to your yard, consider planting a few tropical plants such as croton.
These plants are easy to care for and they come in a variety of different colors.
25. Make Spilled Flower Pot
You can transform an old flower pot into a decorative item.
However, if the pot is too small, place stones or decorative rocks inside the container to raise the soil level.
It will make the pot less visible, making it look like the flowers are spilling out of the container.
