17x The best garden ideas for a small budget

Looking to design an inexpensive front garden or find ways to spruce up your backyard on a budget? Then you could use some garden inspiration ! We'll give you 17 low-budget garden ideas to give your entire garden a makeover. From vintage flower pots to inexpensive bulbs and practically free vegetable gardening.

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Photo: Yasutoshi Kanami via Pixabay

Garden projects can be expensive. They start at just a few tens of euros, but if you have an empty lot and ambitious plans, the budget can easily balloon into thousands. Fortunately, there are plenty of affordable ways to spruce up your garden. Whether you're looking to renovate a large or small garden , we'll explain how to do it without breaking the bank. This way, gardening remains enjoyable for everyone, not just the wealthy. Want even more tips? Then check out the special edition, "185 Budget Ideas for Your Ideal Garden ."

For flowering or fruiting plants, a grower has done a lot of prep work. It's no wonder they're a bit more expensive. For gardeners on a budget, young plants are much more affordable. You'll have to wait a while for the first blooms, but how fun is it to watch your own baby plants grow!

A fresh coat of paint will give your fence a fresh look and keep it weatherproof. And all for the price of just a can of paint and a brush. Your fence is the backdrop for your plants, so think carefully about the right color palette. You can also brighten up your fence with a colorful climber. A single clematis can cover a few meters of fence . The climber will provide years of color and cover, making it a worthwhile investment.

Painting your garden furniture, fence, window frames, and other garden materials in the same cool shades is also one of many clever ideas for your small backyard . It creates a calmer and more spacious look.

Handymen make their own garden furniture, such as a lounge set or table, from scaffolding wood. A budget-friendly touch-up for your wooden garden set – by re-oiling or re-varnishing it – can also make a world of difference. Here's how:

Clean your furniture with a furniture cleaner and let it dry.
Scrub with a scouring pad in the direction of the wood grain to remove the dirt.
Paint with oil for hardwood furniture or a colored paint.
Let the oil soak in for 15 minutes.
Wipe off any excess material with a cloth.
You can also opt for a furniture stain after the cleaner.

Mood lighting will make your garden even more inviting. Affordable options include lanterns with candles or string lights hung from trees or shrubs. Both string lights and, for example, spike lights for paths are solar-powered. Use soft lighting to protect bats and insects at night, and turn the lights off when you're not there or set a timer.

A quick browse through Pinterest yields fantastic ideas for DIY planters and pots. Here are some creative ideas for a garden on a budget:

Use fruit crates as planters.
Make a cold frame from old windows and a brick or wooden frame. Vintage tins, rusty watering cans, jugs, or zinc buckets can become flowerpots by drilling holes in the bottom.
Pallets are often freely available and can be reused as planters. Be sure to check that the pallets don't contain any harmful chemicals.
Untreated wood usually rots after a few years. Look for strong, durable wood that will last a long time, such as Douglas fir (10+ years).

You can easily find cheap paving on Marktplaats or at a demolition site. Sometimes it's even given away for free. You'll really save a lot of money if you lay the paving yourself. You can be as creative as you like:

Concrete tiles are not expensive and can be polished.
Bricks become more interesting when you lay them in a herringbone or random pattern.
Boring garden tiles can be broken into pieces with a hammer and used to create a striking garden path.
Leave space between the paving stones and fill it with gravel or low-growing plants. You'll not only save on paving stones, but you'll also be doing insects a world of good.

Tip!

Add height to your borders or planters with a homemade wigwam, perfect for climbing plants like sweet peas or pole beans. Bamboo canes or hazel branches are a great addition. Here's how to make a low-budget wigwam in your garden:

Using a pencil, mark the desired height on 5-7 sticks.
Cut to the correct size with pruning shears.
Place them in a circle in your border or container.
Tie the sticks together at the top and create a spiral by wrapping rope around the sticks as you work your way down to the ground.
Tie the rope just above the ground.
Plant your climbing plants at the base of the wigwam and guide them upwards as they grow by tying them to the support.