Steep rises in prices over recent years have made garden budgeting harder, but it is still possible to create a thoughtful, considered space that is a joy to be in. Start with clarity, and avoid long wish lists; just pick your top three priorities to stay focused.
Bear in mind that some of the most important garden investments are invisible: drainage, sub bases and soil preparation.
Spend where it shows
The phrase ‘spend where it shows’ can be good guidance – for example, materials in key areas at thresholds as you move in and out of your house, or around your main seating area. Use fewer hard materials, placed where you really need them, and perhaps let them taper into looser planting or gravel, as Sarah Price has done here in her exquisite garden at The Exchange in Erith, south London. Bricks are the firmer surfaces for tables and chairs, and the path routes to it are a fine pedestrian self-binding gravel, permeable and cost-effective to install over the greater surface area.
Work in phases
Sketching over photographs is an excellent way to visualise ideas in context. Whether using tracing paper or apps such as Morpholio Trace, start mapping out how you want to use the garden.
Making changes in phases is often the most practical route and what we do in the studio to manage budgets.
It might focus on hard materials at first, or the least accessible areas, and work out from there. This spreads the cost and helps you really understand the nuances of the space and how you want it to evolve.
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Buy cheap, buy twice
The motto ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ holds true, especially when it comes to hard materials. For example, untreated FSC timber may be cheaper up front but has a much shorter lifespan outdoors, whereas treated FSC timber or naturally durable hardwoods will weather better and prove more cost-effective in the long run.
The motto ‘Buy cheap, buy twice’ still holds true, especially when it comes to hard materials
If you want to get hands-on yourself, the website pavingexpert.com is where just about every garden designer I know heads to when they need to check a construction detail. Easy to understand and sensible, it’s a no-nonsense place to start your research. If you are using new materials from suppliers, however, always ask them for their installation recommendations, as this will vary and may influence any warranty with them. Also be mindful of how costs are compiled.
How to create a beautiful garden on a budget
Repurpose existing materials
Hard materials are important for elements of your garden. Start with what you’ve got. Before buying new, is there anything that can be reused, repurposed or refreshed?
For example, you may have seen how some gardeners are now using crushed old bricks for mulch, keeping them out of landfill and helping to retain soil moisture, while reducing the need to buy in. If you do need to bring in new materials, invest wisely in key elements that have character and will last – these can be reclaimed (such as reclaimed York stone) too.
Consider crazy paving
I love crazy paving. And I don’t mean the psychedelic colours of 1970s driveways. Done well, using irregular paving slabs, it is full of character and design potential. It adapts easily to awkward shapes and curving paths without the need for fussy cuts, and its irregularity brings visual richness. It reuses what might otherwise be binned offcuts, broken slabs or unwanted materials being offloaded on online marketplaces. Laid with planting bubbling through the joints is my idea of perfection, as in the garden designed by Terremoto, above.
Reuse concrete slabs
Existing concrete slabs can be put to many different uses. For the productive area of this garden we stacked and fixed some of the slabs and topped them with sanded scaffold planks to create a simple bench – part seat, part work surface.
Concrete slabs from an existing terrace can be lifted to create a looser chessboard layout, opening up space between for planting, and improving permeability. The sub-base beneath can be broken up to improve drainage.
Use gabions
Gabions – wire cages filled with stone, brick or reclaimed materials – make excellent retaining walls, dividers or seating in gardens. At Atelier Gardens, a six-acre creative campus in Berlin, our studio filled them with lumps of unwanted concrete, brick and other site waste to fill seat-height gabions, topped with a repurposed timber deck. At John Little’s pioneering garden in Essex, gabions double up as habitat, buzzing with invertebrate life. While they can be filled uniformly for a crisp look, they’re also a great opportunity to reflect local materials or tell a story. At this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Joe and Laura Carey did just that in their Freedom To Flourish Garden layering Norfolk reed, tiles and other salvaged materials into beautiful, textural waves.
Go for gravel
Gravel is a budget-friendly option for surfaces. It’s permeable and looks good. In a recent project we used 6-10mm Thames Valley flint chipping, nicely angular so it locks together well underfoot. Any larger and it becomes tricky to walk on or to set furniture.
Bear in mind that gravel migrates, even on the flat. Here a simple upstand of a raised treated timber edge keeps things in place (brick or old roof tiles on edge also work well). You could also embrace the movement, letting gravel blur into planting and double it up as mulch.
Use sleepers as steps
Sleepers are another honest, hard-working material. We often use them in place of stone for steps, edges or low retaining walls. They’re cost-effective and textural. New oak weathers beautifully (avoid creosoted reclaimed ones – they leach harmful chemicals and irritate skin). The usual outdoor step standard is a 150mm riser and 300mm tread. Infilling wider treads with gravel creates generous landings, as in this garden by Wild Land Workshop, and planting can feather in and soften the edges. Reclaimed timber is worth seeking out; suppliers such as Ashwells offer a huge range of ex-marine hardwoods ideal for outdoor use. It brings visual maturity and character without the wait for that lovely silvering. Widely used in show gardens, it is just as suited to everyday ones.
Invest in your soil
Soil is the foundation of a successful garden. Protecting it – using something as simple as timber boards when planting or track mats during mechanised work – avoids soil damage, saving significant costs later in failed planting or remedial work.
When budget is tight, soil care is the single best investment you can make at the start. It is as essential as good foundations or a watertight roof for a house; the success of everything else in the garden depends on it. It may not show instantly, but it lays the groundwork for everything to come: fewer failures, better plant health and less watering.
Don’t be disheartened by nutrient-poor soil. Many things thrive in lean conditions: Mediterranean herbs, gravel-garden perennials such as eryngium and stipa, or tap-rooted beauties such as verbascums and echiums. What matters even more than nutrient levels is the soil structure. If the soil is compacted or has been left in poor condition, that’s where your attention should go first.
Factor in composting
Composting is often seen as an extra but should be a priority element. It reduces waste and saves money on seasonal mulching, which in turn will nurture the soil and its beneficial organisms and reduce water stress – all of which is money-saving in the long run. Whether traditional or a hotbin system, it pays off over time. Joe Hawksworth from our studio used to spend hundreds on mulching his garden each year. “Then I bought a shredder,” he says, “and started shredding the perennials and using the shreddings directly as mulch.” A clever investment that saves on long-term spend.
I recently had the joy of visiting Composted, the first garden festival of biodegradable ideas, at Cambo Gardens near St Andrews.
On display were numerous clever sculptural, decomposing elements, including compost cakes, an idea inspired by The Land Gardeners, which are not only functional, but imaginative and beautiful too, and could easily be transposed to any size of garden.
Choose plants over landscaping
The good news for plantaholics trying to convince a significant other that more plants are needed is that, from a cost-per-square-metre perspective, plants offer much more impact for less money than hard landscaping. But try to resist impulse buys at the nursery (we’ve all been there).
Plant at the right time of year
One of the most effective ways to stretch a garden budget is to plant at the right time of year, during the dormant season. In the UK, that’s autumn to early spring. Late spring or summer is often when the urge to plant hits, but it’s also the most demanding and expensive time to do it: more watering, greater risk of failure, and the perennial dilemma of whether to go on holiday or stay home and water.
Planting in early autumn gives the best head start – the soil is still warm and the autumn rain does your watering for you, allowing roots to settle in over winter. As ever, it’s not the calendar but the ground conditions underfoot that matter most. Even within the dormant season, avoid planting into frozen or saturated soil.
Buy small plants
Generally, a plant in a 9cm pot planted in autumn will outpace one in a two-litre pot planted late the following spring, delivering far more bang for your buck. Growing from seed and taking cuttings are even more cost-effective.
Buy bareroot plants
Bareroot plants are one of the best-kept secrets for budget-conscious gardening, especially at scale. Available from late autumn to early spring, they’re field-grown and lifted while dormant. No plastic pots, no compost, peat-free and light to transport, which makes them significantly better value all round. Hedging, shrubs, roses and fruit bushes are most commonly available this way. Bareroot perennials, once widespread, are making a quiet comeback and are available at a range of nurseries. Evergreens and tender plants tend not to be available as bareroots.
Plant in the right order
Plan your planting methodology – get the big things in first and work your way down, or you’ll be trampling the more delicate stuff as you go. Always check the rootball size and weight of any larger plants before you buy, especially if your garden has tricky access. Coming through the house, down a narrow side return or around tight corners all need thinking through in advance. I can say with confidence that every designer has made this mistake at least once professionally,
and it’s a moment you don’t forget in a hurry.
Plant with intent. Repeat key species in small, odd-numbered groups to create rhythm and give your standout plants space to shine. Grasses can work especially well in this kind of strategy and are great value for money; we usually make sure 25-30 per cent of our planting is grasses, partly for this and because they can act as binders between planting styles.
Contrast brings energy, but it needs balance. If you have a penchant for bold leaves or gauzy froth, without something to play against, those favourites can feel muddled. Texture is everything; we often review planting palettes in black and white to check if the contrast still holds. If it works without colour, it usually works full stop.
Texture is everything; we often review planting palettes in black and white to check if the contrast still holds.
Go for the biggest tree you can afford
For impact, it is worth considering a juvenile tree that is as large as you can afford and still manageable to plant by hand. Go as big as can be easily and safely planted; too large and kit has to come into play – lifting gear, anchors and a few extra pairs of hands, which quickly eats into the budget. The same thinking applies to hedging, which is graded in price by maturity, so be strategic. Maybe you need instant screening in one spot, but can afford to let other areas knit in more gradually.
Plant your boundaries
When it comes to boundaries, climbers are brilliant screens. If not self-clinging, wire them in; we prefer vine eyes and galvanised wires set at 400- 500mm horizontals to fancy wiring systems. We sometimes use fast-growing, sacrificial climbers to buy time while slower evergreen species establish.
Despite being deciduous, Parthenocissus offers a swift swagger, allowing plants such as Trachelospermum jasminoides, ivy or hydrangeas, including evergreen Hydrangea seemannii and Holoptelea integrifolia, and deciduous Hydrangea hydrangeoides, to find their feet beneath. Holboellia is a vigorous evergreen option with the bonus of edible fruit, but it can get rampant. Make sure that whatever you are growing is not too prolific or heavy for the support – the last thing you need is vigorous rambler, gorgeous though it might be, bringing down the neighbour’s fence.
You could keep an existing chain-link fence and plant a woven mix of evergreen and deciduous climbers. It will also be robust enough for edibles such as squash to ramble along.
Choose a budget (and attractive) fencing material
Split chestnut fencing rolls are a beautifully simple – and extremely cost-effective way to divide space, especially when planting is allowed to wisp through, blurring boundaries. For stability, fix posts securely at each end.
Seed a meadow
Meadow turf offers instant impact but can be costly; if budget is a concern, seeding is your friend – there are excellent pre-mixed options from suppliers such as Pictorial Meadows or Scotia Seeds.
A mown path curves gently through the planting and requires no hard landscaping. If you prefer a more solid route, think about material congruence and practicality – here, no to porcelain tiles; yes to brick; remember, gravel migrates.
Use natural materials as sculptures
Coppiced hazel, willow and birch are wonderful materials for making simple garden structures that are characterful, low-cost and with a light touch. Whether woven into low hurdles to edge a bed, used to form frames for climbers, shaped into arches and supports, or used to divide spaces, they add structure without feeling over-engineered. And because they are coppiced from fast-growing species rather than felled, they are a renewable material with very low embodied energy. Here, as inspiration of what is possible with the simplest of materials, are some of the handmade structures that support the glorious abundance of Alison Jenkins’ wonderful regenerative smallholding, Damson Farm.
Some of the best-value sculptural elements in a garden aren’t designed for people at all. Dead hedges, compost cakes, log piles and upright posts with drilled holes all offer habitat for wildlife, while also giving a garden structure, and when repeated, can create a strong visual cadence. They are made from natural, biodegradable materials, often what you already have to hand or what neighbours might be trying to get rid of.
Create a budget-friendly water feature
Water can add cost to a garden, but it doesn’t have to. Repurposed elements such as galvanised tanks, old buckets and simple water bowls can be effective, affordable features. Step it up slightly, and a pond can offer huge visual and ecological impact without breaking the bank. A garden made by the gardener and ecological designer Julia Wylie in London is an example I love: a simple, crisp circular pond edged with gathered interwoven branches. The ecotone here is visually striking and offers an ideal way in and out for amphibians, invertebrates and birds.
Get creative
There’s no reason why we shouldn’t take inspiration from land artists past and present and bring some of that creativity into the garden. I really enjoyed following this year’s European Land Art Festival (ELAF) at Dunbar and the work of artists such as James Brunt (whose work at Wentworth Woodhouse is shown above) – simple, thoughtful pieces made with what’s to hand. It reminded me of a wonderful private garden I once visited near Loch Fyne, where a tree was perfectly under-circled with delicate fragments of stone set on edge in the same direction. Nothing complicated, but full of intent. These small interventions, whether permanent or ephemeral, give a sense of delight and atmosphere without needing a big budget, and give us a chance to flex our creativity.
Listen to the Talking Gardens podcast to hear more from Charlotte Harris from Harris Bugg Studio.
