Low Cost Patio and Garden Ideas, how to get a cheap patio and garden

There are lots of low cost patio and garden ideas which can make even the smallest budgets stretch a long way. Sure, we'd all love to spend big on the best natural stone patio and fancy plants and accessories for the garden, but that is rarely how most people's budgets work. Making a nice looking patio and garden can be done cheaply as long as you are open to trying new things.

Here are a few ways to get a low cost garden and patio:

1. Stop using paving contractors and gardeners for things you can do. 

Builders merchants will deliver paving slabs to your house and all the sand, stone and cement needed to lay them. DIY paving is not easy but anyone that enjoys DIY should be able to make a decent patio surface. The tools needed aren't that expensive, but try borrowing them off a neighbor. Cleaning a patio is straight forward too, you can buy pressure washers cheaply at home improvement stores, or just hire a more powerful one for a day.

Likewise if you need gardening work done, you will find somewhere that will deliver soil and turf to your house. Laying turf is quite easy once you know how. Getting rid of dug off dirt and soil can be done by hiring a skip, make sure you get one big enough that has a ramp for a wheel barrow.

2. Stop buying expensive woodwork

Cheap garden accessories can easily be made with some basic woodwork knowledge. Just get the basic woodworking tools and you will soon be making some nice pieces. Start with something simple like trellis to hide a fence or wall, then move onto something a little more challenging like a bird house. After a while you might get hooked and find yourself building a storage shed or a tree house for the kids.

3. Consider cheaper materials

If your budget won't stretch to new paving on your patio, consider laying gravel over the existing surface. This will immediately give you a nice cheap patio surface. Gravel on a patio isn't the best solution but if you desperately need something new, it is an OK short term solution. A better alternative is to use reclaimed paving slabs. many times when a company rips up someone existing slabs on a patio or driveway, they are just thrown away. It will take a bit of time to clean the grout off, but old paving slabs can look very nice, especially if mixed with different batches to give a patchwork effect.

Low cost garden alternatives may include using rocks found at a beach instead of expensive decorative stone. Simply adding a fresh coat of cheap fence paint will brighten up and give a new look to your garden. If you find that you spend a lot on compost, consider using all waste food from your kitchen to make your own source of compost. A compost bin can easily be made with wood, and this is an environmentally way of using waste food.