Garden Design on a Budget

With spring fast approaching I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to waving goodbye to the winter cold and getting back in my garden! At the moment my garden is looking a bit tired and worn out from storms and rain so I’m planning on re-designing with a tight budget in mind, but I thought I’d share my advice so you too can have a new look for your garden in 2017 without parting with too much cash.
1. Use cuttings
One very easy and very cheap way (free, even!) to transform your garden is to make use of cuttings. I will certainly be taking cuttings of Dahlia’s – my favourite – but other great plants to take cuttings from this time of year is: Chrysanthemums, Bidens or Fuchsias. All of these are great options to inject a pop of colour in your beds!
Before you take your cuttings make sure you research the correct way of doing so online for each plant. These techniques are easy to find and will ensure you get a healthy growth from the cutting.

2. Grab a paintbrush
One way you can re-design your garden cheaply is to give it a good lick of paint! This can be anything from painting a dull fence, a bare brick wall, a shed or even plant pots! I’m planning on experimenting this year with a teal colour on my fence panels to really brighten it up.
If you have any terracotta plant pots spare you could get creative and paint some innovative designs on them yourself. The possibilities are endless; you could get really creative with vibrant patterns or draw on some novelty characters. This could also be a great activity for your children to get involved in, maybe with finger painting and hand prints. Personally, I plan to stick with neutral colours but label the pot with the name of the plant on it.
 

3.  Garden Furniture
If, like me, you love socialising in your garden it’s important to have some garden furniture for those summer garden parties and barbeques. It’s tricky to find garden furniture when you’re on a budget but at Primrose they have a large range of garden dining sets that start from £39.99. Be sure to have a think about what material and style is important to you when you start your search for furniture as it needs to be perfect for your garden.
If your budget cannot stretch that far, then it may be worth considering what you could recycle and use as garden furniture as an alternative. Try to think out of the box for this, even things like car tyres can be transformed into tables
 

 
4. Focal Point
If you want a WOW factor without a huge price having a focal point is a great idea. This means you can draw all your attention to one point in your garden whilst keeping the rest of your garden in a simple style.
There are many ways you can create an interesting focal point cheaply, such as: planting a collection of brightly coloured plants in an interesting shape, or recycling certain items to create a unique centerpiece. Take some time to look at your garden and choose a spot that you want to focus on, a central location can be best if you have a bigger garden.
 

5. Lighting
If you enjoy sitting in your garden once the sun has set, you can create a wonderful ambience simply from using candles or fairy lights in key areas.
If you have a tree in your garden you may wish to consider solar powered fairy lights that will leave a pleasant glow in the evenings, or perhaps trail these along your fence. Fairy lights are a great way to compliment your favourite part of your garden even in dark evenings. The great thing about solar powered lights is that they are not expensive as they collect the solar rays during the day saving you a big electricity bill!
6. Strong Colour
My last suggestion for garden design on a budget is sticking to a strong colour scheme throughout. Although this sounds simple, by incorporating a strong colour in key places this will really help to make your garden feel like a different place! Think about the key elements of your garden and try to match the colours.
For example; my sail shade, furniture cushions and planters are all in a blue colour which really works in my space. This helps to distract from other areas of your garden and makes my design seem thought out and matching.
Of course, on a budget you may think about doing this by dying your furniture cushions yourself, planting a particular colour plant in your beds and also painting your furniture or fencing.