If you were to talk to any knowledgeable property developer they would tell you that one of the best places to invest in is in garden landscaping. While everything else on a home has a service life and degrades over time, garden landscaping grows and improves in value over the years even if it’s done on a low budget.
Save on Water to Save on Money
After your project is completed and all the plants are in, the next step would be watering it. This is something that you just can’t eliminate because if you lessen the amount of water that you’re giving to the plants then you cannot achieve maximum growth and your plants may end up dying. Another thing to consider is water metering. If you currently live in an area where the water isn’t metered, consider yourself lucky.
This is because metered water is a growing trend in surrounding areas. If you don’t have metered water in your area then you should take advantage of it. You will never know when you will get charged water by the meter. It is best to plan on ways to lower the water demand of your garden landscaping because this will be significant in the long run.
Remember to check the water consumption of trees, plants and foliage. Some plants would require more water than other. A great way to solve your watering problems is to include a low use drip irrigation system into your garden landscaping plans.
Understand How Soil pH Works
Understanding how soil pH works and learning how to adjust it is very significant. This will help you accommodate all the various types of greenery that you have in your garden landscaping and it will also help you save money by achieving maximum growth. For example, plants growing in soil that is their preferred pH level will have deeper roots systems to reach water lower down in the soil.
Every plant will have a certain level of acidity that they prefer to grow in. Ferns, for example, prefer a slightly acidic soil, as do tomatoes. Grasses on the other hand tend to do best in a less acidic, more neutral soil that’s about the same pH level of water. It’s important to note that all soils will have a pH number and it can be adjusted.
The first step is to pick up a soil test kit from your local nursery or from an online source. Follow the instructions carefully to test the soil in various areas where you plan on doing your garden landscaping. Also check to see what pH level the trees or plants that you plan to incorporate in these areas prefer and make sure that you adjust it accordingly using common chemical fertilizer and lawn lime.
Look for Free Rocks and Boulders
Rock work and landscaping boulders look great in garden landscaping, but if you check at your local masonry supply yard you may be surprised by how much these things cost. The good news here is that you don’t need to be told that there are free sources for rocks and even larger boulders somewhere in the surrounding area where you live.
Take a drive outside of town, to a river, lake or seashore and the odds are pretty good that you’ll be presented with free rocks and boulders to incorporate into your garden landscaping. Be aware that transporting heavy rocks does present its own unique set of problems.
For starters, if you plan on moving heavier boulders, it doesn’t take much for them to damage your truck or vehicle. You also have to be concerned with them damaging each other. Bring along a few good-sized scraps of old carpeting to use as padding when you load these rocks and boulders.
Easy to Care Trees Plants and Shrubs
Another good tip for low-budget garden landscaping is to stay away from exotics and high maintenance greenery. What you need to understand is that the beautiful exotics that you see in a nursery have been raised in a greenhouse setting and tended to by experts.
They sure look great but just as soon as you get them into the ground you’re going to be hit with a high mortality rate and slow growth issues. You’re also not going to get near as many flowers as you may intend to from temperamental high maintenance trees plants and shrubs. On top of all that you will in most cases end up paying more for them.
Research online or talk your local nursery operator to become familiar with more low-maintenance species of greenery and then plan on using them in your garden landscaping. Good and healthy plants look great and that’s what’s important if you’re planning on long-term results for your efforts.
Start from Seedlings to Save Money
Lastly starting from seedlings rather than buying nursery grown plants is another proven method for saving money on garden landscaping on a tight budget. You don’t need to have a green thumb to grow lots of healthy plants from seeds either. What you need is knowledge, some basic materials and a little bit of patience because some take longer than others to grow.
Start out with sturdy containers that will stay together for the time that it takes to get your seed to grown plants. The last thing you need is containers that start crumbling before your plants are fully grown Use quality potting soil with some sand, a little bit of vermiculite and perlite mixed in.
Make sure you do your planting in the springtime when the weather is mild. Also make sure to pick up some insecticide to use in your garden landscaping.