Gardening Ideas on a Budget

Charming Edible Garden: Photo courtesy Chris Bowers & Sons

In an ideal world, we’d all be given endless amounts of cash to create our dream gardens that feature swimming pools, huge decking areas and hidden alcoves for relaxation. Unfortunately for us, it’s not an ideal world that we live in, and most of us have to work hard to both create and maintain an outdoor space that we are proud of and enjoy spending time in.

Planting in our home "farmette" - Orchard just beyond

  

Harvesting & deadheading are joyful pursuits in our home farm-ette

What many people don’t know, however, is that there are plenty of gardening ideas that are ideally suited to those who would like to create a prosperous garden without having to cause too much damage to their bank balance. The following are some gardening ideas for those of you who may be budget-conscious.

1.           Grow Your Own Vegetables

Homegrown potatoes  Photo courtesy of Chris Bowers & Sons

Ok, so this may not have been the first thought that came into your mind when you thought of budget-friendly gardening tips. Growing your own vegetables will take a little cash and time investment from you in the beginning, but the benefits that are awarded will far outweigh these initial investments. Seeing the growth of fresh vegetables in any garden, regardless of its size, is a welcome sight by all. Once you have your vegetable garden in full operation, you’ll begin to notice less time spent in the produce aisle when you visit the supermarket and more money in your wallet once you finish at the checkout.

2.           Plant A Fruit Tree

Apple tree fruits: Photo Courtesy of Chris Bowers & Sons 

Nothing looks quite as attractive in a garden than a blooming and colorful fruit tree. 

I certainly welcome and embrace this garden suggestion.  In the last two years, I created a bit more Garden Glamour in our home garden by designing and planting a modest "orchard."  

I selected a total of four, dwarf fruit trees, arranged them in two rows cut out from the lawn.  

The garden design will allow for several key benefits: ultimately we'll be able to walk between the trees'  shady rows (or maybe I'll put a garden bench there)  -- either way, it will be a thrilling, sensual pleasure with the sweet-smelling flowers and the fruit.  The fruit trees will also attract pollinators -- good for our farmette located next to the orchard, and good for the environment.  

And finally, we need to grow our own fruit trees if we are ever to think about being truly sustainable.  At one time it would have been unthinkable for any home garden not have fruit trees.  I like that kind of thinking.

Not only do fruit trees look lovely, they can also save you a considerable amount of money when it comes to providing delicious fruit for your family to eat. 

There are plenty of options out there to choose from but blackberry bushes are a great option in particular, as they are inexpensive to buy and extremely easy to plant and grow. Viruses can be a problem so always ensure to purchase your seeds/trees from a reputable nursery such as chrisbowers.co.uk or another highly rated nursery.

We have blueberry bushes in our front garden.  They are a beautiful red color in the winter and in-season, offer sweet, delicious taste to meals.  

Both fruit trees and edible bushes also provide no small amount of homegrown joy -- guests are fascinated by the opportunity to enjoy fresh blueberries, cherries, and apples, picked right from your own "garden of Eden." 

3.  Used Recycled Products

Take a look in your garden shed – is it filled with old wooden barrels, containers, wood and metal scraps or wicker baskets? 

If so, you’re in luck as these are all items that can be used in a creative way to beautifully decorate your garden. 

For example, old wicker baskets can be used to plant some budding flowers while the timeworn wooden barrels can be remodelled and used as storage containers or decorative items. 

Once you begin to get creative, you’ll be surprised at what you can do with items that you have laying about the house in cupboards and sheds.

I love the look of the garden shed!  Just last month we had to get a new garden shed.  For now, we painted it the same color as the house. In the spring, we'll look to create some garden glamour, using the garden shed here as an inspiration  

Like a country cottage, it will charm any garden-lover to spending more time just enjoying the garden because it's both so pretty to look at-- the climbing rose and vines add just the right touch -- and because you'll be so organized - you can afford to sit and enjoy the "fruits" of your labor.

Sweet garden shed: Photo courtesy of Chris Bowers & Sons

As with most home renovation projects, there are some simple ways that you can save a lot of money when gardening – three of which have been outlined above. 

Planning, being creative, recycling and putting in the time and effort is basically what is required if you want to create a garden that you’re proud of and actually want to spend time in. 

And the beauty of it is that with the right mind-set and a little hard work, you don’t need to spend an absolute fortune on your garden-remodelling project.

Start planning now for this season's gardens.  Look at those seed catalogs and make up the fruit tree nursery list. Check out Chris Bowers -- they're on Facebook, too.   
Spring is around the corner.