30 Nov Six Cheap Landscaping Ideas for Your Backyard

Beautiful landscapes look expensive. However, any avid landscaping DIY enthusiast will tell you that you don’t have to break the bank to spice up your lawn or backyard.

Are you looking for fun and affordable ways to transform your landscape? Here are some cheap landscaping ideas from Tucson’s landscape design experts.

1. Use Free Mulch Alternatives

Mulch can help improve water retention while boosting your landscape’s look and feel. However, shop-bought mulch can cost a fair amount of money—especially if you have a spacious yard. Fortunately, you can explore several low-cost alternatives, including:

• Shredded leaves
• Grass clippings from mowing your lawn
• Compost
• Pine needles
• Old newspaper
• Stones

2. Install a Bird Feeder and Birdbaths

Sometimes, all it takes to make your landscape more exciting is to make it attractive for your avian neighbors.  

Watching the birds as they feed and splash water onto their feathers is a sight better experienced than imagined. It’s one of the cheap landscaping ideas anyone can implement.

3. Add Some Color

Sometimes, all you need to transform your landscape is a splash of color. You can repaint your planters, landscape chairs, boundary stones, and other elements. The job will be much cheaper if you have leftover paint in your garage.

For more natural color, explore the option of growing flowers in different locations, such as near your patio deck, around your entryway, or even your mailbox.

4. Install Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting can transform the look and feel of any landscape in low-light conditions.  

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend much money on custom light fixtures to generate picturesque results. You can find affordable outdoor string lights and use them strategically. Here are some ideas:

• Wrap strings of lights around pillars
• Run lights from your house to a central tree
• Line the garden beds with rope lights

5. Refurbish Your Fence

The fence around your landscape is the first thing most people see when visiting your home. Refurbishing it can make your outdoor space more visually appealing. Here are some tips to consider:

• Give the fence a fresh coat of paint
• Drape it with a colorful weather-resistant awning
• Grow vines along the fence
• Install decorative fence caps

6. Grow a Vertical Garden

As the name implies, a vertical garden runs from top to bottom instead of across the ground. If you don’t have a lot of space in your yard, you can still grow plants vertically. To make this cheap landscaping idea even more inexpensive, use existing or recycled materials such as:

• Old plastic bottles
• Wooden ladders
• Old tires hung on the wall
• Old picture frames
• Waterproof shoe organizers

Plants that work great for vertical gardens include ferns, garlic, peppers, bromeliads, onions, climbing roses, and other perennial plant types.

Get More Advice From the Experts

Do you need more advice on cheap landscaping ideas? Call our Santa Rita Landscaping team in Tucson, AZ, at (520)-623-0421. We are always happy to help our customers achieve the landscape of their dreams.

We are also constantly publishing educational materials you can read at your convenience. Here are types of mulch to consider for landscaping.