Gardens for Your Budget

Have you ever leafed through one of those gardening magazines, or seen an online spread about the great gardens of the world? They’d be nice to have, sure, but who could afford them?

Well, there are plenty of ways you can make a beautiful garden at a surprisingly affordable price. The most important aspect of planning a garden is to look at what you have to work with. Do you have good soil? Is it rocky? Hilly? Are there any natural features that you take advantage of? Every potential garden has challenges, and the less reshaping of the landscape you have to do, the less work you have to put in (and the less money you’ll spend).

The next thing to decide is what you want to accomplish with your garden. Do you want an herb garden so you can zip outside to snip some basil for your spaghetti sauce? Maybe you want a more traditional garden with rows of corn gently swaying in the summer sun. Your intent will dictate how you use your space and the budget required to make it happen.

Don’t assume you have to use expensive materials either. Many of the most beautiful gardens make use of recycled materials or even junk. It’s perfectly possible to incorporate a used tire or cracked cinder blocks into your design at virtually no cost.

It turns out, gardening is a fun and surprisingly cheap way of enjoying the outdoors. All you need is a little creativity and a willingness to get some dirt underneath your fingernails.

Happy Spring!