7 Affordable Ways to Give your Garden a Makeover

When the spring and summer weather comes back around, it makes us want to get outside and enjoy our gardens while we can. Whether you consider yourself an expert gardener or a newbie who want to try to make their garden more appealing, there are lots of things you can do to update it while sticking to a budget.

Here are 7 affordable ways you can give your garden a makeover.

Garden Makeover

Transforming your garden doesn't need to break the bank and it doesn't need to be extravagant either. Sometimes even small changes can make a big impact on your garden and breathe new life into it. By taking on a few do-it-yourself projects, you can take your garden from ordinary to a flourishing haven you want to spend all summer in.

Tame the Plants

One of the easiest ways to give your garden a makeover is to tame the plants. The best thing about this tip is that it won’t cost you anything, except an afternoon in the sun! Start by removing dead, sick or overgrown plants. Dead and unhealthy plants distract from the way your garden looks and just take up space that could otherwise be filled with lush plant life.

If overgrown plants are healthy but have outgrown their homes, you can transplant them to an area more conducive to their size. Carefully dig up the plant, keeping the roots in tact, and then replant it somewhere else in your garden. This lets you keep things in proportion and gives you a chance to rearrange some of your landscaping.

For things that are simply overgrown, tame them with hedge trimmers, clippers and even tree trimmers. Overgrown plants can become unhealthy and make your garden look uncared for.

Refresh with New Mulch

There’s nothing quite like a fresh layer of mulch to make your garden look polished and healthy. Pick up a few bags from your local nursery or hardware store and scatter mulch in your flowerbeds. Fresh mulch makes your flowers and plants stand out and even helps maintain soil temperatures for a healthier garden. This tip also helps you prevent weed growth so keeping your garden looking beautiful all summer will be easier.

Some other places to add mulch include in beds around shrubs and around trees. If your trees are simply growing out of your lawn, dig a ring around them, just a few inches deep, and add mulch. This adds a professional look and makes your landscaping look more polished.

If you can, use your bush, shrub and tree trimmings and a wood chipper to make all-natural and free mulch to use throughout your garden.

Add a Mini Raised Garden

If you don’t have a vegetable garden, or if yours has seen better days, make a DIY mini raised garden this summer. First, lay down a tarp or even some new garbage bags to cover your grass and prevent weeds from taking over. Then, use concrete bricks to create a square or rectangular outline for your garden. It’s best to stack two bricks on top of each other all the way around to create tall retaining walls. Fill the garden with nutrient-rich soil and add some veggies!

Raised gardens are great for growing vegetables because their design makes it easier to keep weeds out and the soft, clean soil is ideal for vegetables because it doesn’t have rocks and debris and is full of nutrients.

Polish it off with a Garden Border

If you’re looking for a quick way to compliment your landscaping, add a garden border. Use cement pieces or bricks to separate your garden beds from grass and to outline mulch rings around trees.

Garden borders enhance your landscaping and make it look finished. This seems like a small detail, but can make a big impact on the way your garden and yard look. Borders can also help keep your garden in great shape by keeping gravel and grass out of your flower and vegetable beds.

Go with a Low Fence

Low fences can be charming and add a sense of style to your garden. They also provide a stylish way to mark your property lines, keep animals out of your garden or divide your landscaping into different spaces.

You can install your own fence and make it a custom fit for your garden. Start with some pickets, posts and slats. Use a shovel holer to easily dig holes for the posts and then make sure they are all installed securely and perfectly straight.

Install two slats, at the top and bottom of each post, to connect them to each other. Then, add the pickets along the slats to finish the fence. Give it personality with a coat of paint. Stick with classic white or make a statement with a blue, red, yellow or green.

Lead the way with a Pathway

Another simple feature you can add yourself is a pathway. There are all kinds of materials you can use, including, stones, flagstones, bricks or even wood. The way you install the path will depend on the material you use. But, to start, determine where you want the path to be and then clear away plants and grass.

Lay the pathway so it is as level as possible, and then use gravel or moss to fill in the spaces between each piece. You can create a long path from the front of your house to the back or through your entire garden, or you can just add a few stepping stones in one area to make it more accessible and add some personality.

Dress it up with Decorations

Add colour, texture and something new to your garden with some decorations. You can go all out with a fountain or you can do something more simple, like add a trellis, new flowerpots, a birdbath, bird feeders, garden furniture, wind chimes or anything else that dresses your garden up. You could go the additional mile and even look to build yourself a summerhouse, make your garden look epic with the addition of a beautiful Summerhouse, what’s not to like?

The key to making this work is knowing when to stop, since you don’t want to clutter up your landscaping, and choosing decorations that are in proportion to your home and plants.

Give your garden a budget-friendly makeover this summer by updating the flowerbeds, adding something new or just regaining control of existing plants.