Over the summer, we all have the one family member – be it you, your partner, your bored retiree father-in-law, or whoever – that really gets in the mood for some yardwork and landscaping.
This is all well and good! A nicely-maintained lawn can be just the thing your home needs to take it from ‘nice enough’ to a beautiful place you’re proud to live in. It can, however, get awful expensive and laborious if you’re not careful. We’ve got some plans and ideas here to beautify your home & garden without spending the kind of money the people on HGTV always seem to be able to throw around:
Give your garden tools a home. While you’re going to need them later, a good first step in making your lawn fancy for the summer is to find somewhere for your lawn supplies to all go. The craftier types among us could make some wooden boxes to hide garden hoses, or maybe hand-build a little rack along the fence to hold your rakes and shovels and the like. (If you’re less industrious or more pressed for time, you could easily repurpose some wire shelves or garage storage to go in the shed or garage to hang onto everything instead.)
Create some ‘focal points’. Instead of totally overhauling the entire backyard, you could instead focus on a few key areas to create focal points around the backyard. Buy some rocks to create a firepit, or surround a tree with them to create a little circular garden at its base. Use reclaimed wood to make a corner garden right up against the fence or near the back porch for a splash of color. Wherever it goes, just make it decorative and have fun with it!
Live on the edge. If you’ve given some of your yard over to a garden bed, or are thinking about adding one soon, edging it is a great and affordable way to give it that ‘professional touch’. Get some temporary marking spray paint to outline the area it will go in, and then hit the hardware store for some affordable bricks or rocks to stack up along the painted area to create a more robust garden look.
Make your own island. Similar to the focal points idea, a good way to introduce some new plants and color is to make a little ‘island’ in your yard. Find a spot where the grass is thinning out and replace it with some mulch and woodchips, and use it as a spot for some colorful bushes or shorter trees to introduce some color and reduce the appearance of dead grass all over your yard.
Add some easy lighting. Not every backyard needs to be lit by in-ground halogen lights and elaborate porch lights. Sometimes all you need is a few candles and maybe some rope lights (or reused Christmas lights) to give it a fun, funky touch for much cheaper – and the next time your backyard parties extend into the night, you’ll be glad you have them!
Hopefully these tips let you make the most of your limited landscape budget while keeping your yard as beautiful as you want – and trust us, your green thumb relatives will be glad to help if you need it!