Landscaping Design on a Budget

Compared to other elements and materials, installing lawn is initially inexpensive. It’s what a lawn requires afterward that can get expensive. Fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, mowing, water, …sprinkler system.

From an economical and budgeting point of view, lawn areas should be kept small. In times of drought or little rain, it’s practically impossible to maintain a large area of lawn without an automatic sprinkler system. So a sprinkler system would be a necessity and so would also be an added expense. Have you considered the expense of a sprinkler system into your budget. Keep it in mind when planning the size of your lawn area. If a large lawn is your thing and your budget allows, that’s probably where a chunk of your expenses should go.

Sod vs. Seed

There’s nothing like the instant gratification of installing a sod lawn. However, compared to seed planting a lawn, the cost difference can be substantial. Most average budgets won’t allow for a large area of sod.

The preparation for both seed and sod is basically the same so that won’t influence your spending. The differences are that installing sod is more expensive and labor intensive. Planting seed is cheap but takes more time and attention to get it established. It comes down to which do you have more of. Time or money?

Inexpensive Hardscapes

I have two full pallets of old red bricks that we gathered for free from an old burned down building. They have so much character. I’ve saved them back for my own courtyard that I plan to build…someday. Anything free fits my own landscaping budget so we gathered them up and brought them to the yard.

I can’t begin to say just how many old rock houses we’ve turned into rock garden walls or how many old fireplaces have become patio pavers. Native landscaping rocks and flagstones we’ve gathered are responsible for many walkways and garden walls like the wall we created in this xeriscaping design idea.

Old bricks, rocks, and other elements like these can be used for a lot of different projects such as garden walkways, edging, borders, waterfalls, rock garden walls, etc.

If you just keep your eyes open and more importantly, get out of the car and ask for it, there are plenty of cheap, inexpensive, and free resources available.

Cheap Landscaping Plants

Side by side, a 69 cent four inch potted Verbena and a $3.99 one gallon Verbena will be pretty much the same size by mid-season. It’s the same with most small specimen plants.

Most of the designs we create are planted in with smaller, immature, less expensive plants. Of course this is because it is much cheaper. While most of us would prefer an instant full grown landscape, patience here will pay off in spending your money in another area like maybe…trees.