4 Affordable Landscaping Tips

by Terry Kruse

When it comes to selling your home, curb appeal is something every real estate agent will tell you to focus on. But creating and maintaining a beautiful garden is no easy feat. It requires time and effort, and, in most cases, money. But that doesn’t have to be the case. When it comes to landscaping, there are affordable options out there.

Buy the younger plants. While the fully bloomed plants will be more appealing to your eye, their price tag will be higher than the younger ones that have yet to fully bloom. While at the end of the day there is no difference between the two, you’ll pay less for the younger option, because it will require a little more time to reap the fruits (or flowers).  

Buy out of season. When a plant is going out of season the price will be discounted as the shop will be looking to make room on their shelves for the new plants that are coming into season. It’s like shopping the sale section—the quality isn’t any different, but the price definitely is.

Use found items. When it comes to landscaping, you can actually find a lot of beautiful items to help decorate your exterior space for free or almost free. Items like rocks and sand from the beach are absolutely free and go a long way to creating an inviting, beachy outdoor space in your yard. You can also find items like used planters and outdoor furniture for bargain prices if you know where to look. Items like shipping pallets are always being given away for free at stores and can be deconstructed to create a variety of items like outdoor tables and chairs. You can also use the extra mud you dug up to build a pool or plant a tree to create berms and give your lawn extra dimension.

Buy perennials. While you might be drawn to the familiarity and lower price of more traditional flowers and plants, perennials like sage, thyme, lavender and iris will cost a little bit more upfront, but last for years, making it a better value in the long run than annuals and biennial plants that will require replanting every year.