Landscaping can definitely be done for less money. Newcomers often feel overwhelmed when they get estimates for landscaping services: nothing stands out, and everything is priced very high. So, I provide helpful advice on how to cut costs.
We also guide you on how to avoid spending your cash where it’s not needed in the «Yellow Wheelbarrow» classes. «My garden project». In this course, you will learn all the skills needed to design a simple plan for your space. After that, all you need to do is start working!
1. Use things a second time
This definitely does not suggest that you should take a wagon wheel and hit it against your house wall right away. Yet, there are indeed things we can reuse in clever ways. Used items can turn into a fresh and exciting design idea, and you will also save cash.
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Diseases of my tomatoes: what happened and how I saved themA great example is patio stones or slabs. There is no need at all to install new pavers around your house. Maybe in your parents’ backyard or your grandparents’ yard, you will find stones and bricks that you don’t need anymore and can creatively turn them into a new path. The best part is that these kinds of ideas are sustainable and good for the environment.
Various metal parts can also be changed into new decorations or useful supports. We have shown many useful and unusual ideas in the show with landscape designer Gytis Lietvaičius. At his old farm in the Vilnius area, he created wooden garden decorations by himself. You don’t need much, just some wood and paint.
2. Grow plants from seeds
You can grow most perennials from seeds, so landscaping the plot will cost less, you just need to have a little patience. Sure, buying a plant from a nursery will give you the final result faster, but you can sow lots of plants as soon as you buy the land and let them grow on their own while you set up your new home.
Landscaping is a project that lasts several years and requires a lot of expense, for this reason I recommend you sow some plants, and plant others later, after purchasing the seedlings already grown in the nursery.
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9 perennial flowers that bloom in summer: find ideas for a flower garden3. Buy smaller plants
Speaking of plants, you can also save by buying them in a nursery: just choose smaller plants. I know, we all want a quick and dramatic effect, but if there’s one thing gardening can teach us, it’s patience.
Some plants need at least a few years to grow to a truly impressive sight. Of course, a plant grown in a nursery will have an immediate effect in your garden, but by saving money you can certainly purchase a smaller plant. The sight may not be so impressive right away, but you will have already planted the plant and it can easily grow on its own.
Another way to have many plants with less investment is to propagate them yourself. Some plants, like hakones, grow slowly and you won’t reproduce them quickly, so they are expensive. On the other hand, there are many fast-growing and easy-to-propagate plants like catnip. One seedling is enough to cover a large area with catnip fairly quickly.
4. Invest in yourself
My other advice is to study. I guarantee you that such investments will pay you back many times over.
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Late asters and their combinations with other plants that flower in autumnI still remember my visit to Ignalina to garden designer Ingas Šidlauskienėwho created the design of her farm herself. I especially remembered the fantastically shaped apple and pear trees on the trellises – it looks like a fence. The trees themselves are very common varieties in Lithuania, so anyone can make them. And buying already formed plants would be very expensive.
Even the creation of the simplest flower garden can cost a lot if you give in to the temptations of plant fairs: you will buy what is beautiful, but what is not necessarily suitable for your soil. Later you will curse because it doesn’t grow.
But so little is enough: after our courses, Reda created a clean and aesthetic flower garden in her backyard. She applied the laws learned there, created a palette of plants and planted everything herself. Look how he did it.
As the examples of Inga and Reda show, it is not necessary to buy a plot project from professionals and pay a lot of money. You can create beauty in your garden yourself, but you need to bring the right amount of knowledge with you.
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Monochrome flower garden: elegant or boring?5. First the trees, then the flowers
Can’t buy everything at once? Give priority.
Don’t start with the flowers. When setting up your garden, I recommend investing in trees and hedges first to ensure privacy as early as possible. These are the structural systems that create the basis of the design. They are the starting point, so you should not spare them attention (finance).
It happens that settlers plant many small thuja trees along the perimeter, hoping that they will soon grow and hide the site from prying eyes. But you must be disappointed because you have been living in the yard for several years.
It is better to buy already grown plants instead. They will cost much more, so you will purchase fewer units. Place them where you really need privacy. You won’t cover the entire perimeter, but where you need it you’ll have privacy right away.
Over time you will fill the remaining open places and perhaps you will discover more interesting solutions than a continuous row of thuja?..
Well, the flowers are just accents. If textured patio plants do their job, you can save a lot of money on flowers. See the points above to know how to save on flowers.
6. Paint in bright colors
Many things in the yard can be changed simply by painting them. For some reason, many Lithuanians are still afraid of colors, which is why we rarely come across brightly colored and character-rich textures. However, colors are a powerful weapon. After all, we notice them first.
Not only flowers can give color. Grab a paintbrush: Repaint a bench, outdoor kitchen, or simple retaining wall. Don’t be afraid to create bright details: electric blue or bright orange reminiscent of Morocco.
Such solutions will attract attention and make your plot more interesting with relatively low costs.
7. Buy less but good tools
Garden maintenance requires a variety of tools, but the saying that less is more holds true here. There are some basic tools that every settler should have: a spade, pitchforks, a rake, a garden spade, and a good shear. You simply can’t do without them, so these tools should be of the highest possible quality.
Do not save money on them – the most important thing is that they are high quality and durable. Cheap tools won’t last long enough because they break and rust faster. Save yourself the trouble and pick up a basket of basic garden tools from reliable and reputable manufacturers.
My favorite is Gardena – I’ve been a long time brand ambassador and have been using their tools for almost a decade. I can purchase fewer items and since tools with the same name share common parts. For example, the same ergonomic handle is suitable for an accumulator, an ice scraper and a lawn edge shovel. Likewise with a rechargeable battery, the same goes for different tools.
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