There are many reasons why a garden is a great addition to a backyard. Not only are gardens beautiful to look at, but they can also provide some food for your table. Plus, maintaining your garden is quite a relaxing hobby.
Thankfully, gardens are easy to create! There are many DIY garden ideas you can try in your backyard. They don’t have to be expensive either. By starting small, you can execute many DIY small garden ideas on a budget.
All of the DIY garden ideas out there can seem overwhelming, but there’s no need to stress. Any garden will start with the same basic materials and steps. After setting up your garden, you can get creative with how you plant and decorate!
By following the steps below, you’ll have an easy-to-maintain garden, ready for you to start planting and enjoying.
Consider the size of your backyard and pick the area where you’ll want to grow your garden. After you’ve decided on a plot, it’s best to predetermine where you’ll grow each type of plant you want to cultivate.
Some crops, like cucumber or rhubarb, require more space than others.
If you’re not quite sure what to plant, a good start is looking at recommended native varieties.
There are some basic tools you’ll need to carry out any DIY garden ideas. You’ll need a hoe, a spade, a trowel, a small garden rake, a measuring stick, planting lines, a watering can, and a hose.
There are other supplies you’ll need regularly as well:
Finally, you’ll need to purchase seeds and plants! These can be purchased online or from local nurseries.
To ensure your garden’s success, it’s best not to use seeds that are more than one year old. You’ll also want to to avoid plants with yellowing or spotting leaves or any browning on the stems, as these are unhealthy.
Good soil is essential to thriving plants. An essential element of good soil is looseness, allowing for water drainage and root growth. Adding manure or compost to your soil before planting can ensure it remains loose.
Next, you can add your fertilizer so all of your plants remain strong and healthy!
You’ll also want to test your soil acidity from time to time. A soil that is too acidic can be corrected by adding lime and soils that are alkaline can benefit from sulphur additions.
After your soil is prepped, your final step before planting will be ploughing and preparing the seedbed.
Finally, you’ll get to plant your seeds and plants! Mark out straight rows to ensure your garden looks neat and beautiful before planting. Use your hoe to create divots in the soil for your seeds.
Make sure you research each seed you’re planting, as they will need to be placed at specific depths in the soil and with specific spacing between seeds.
Congratulations! You now have a beautiful garden that will be a pleasure to maintain.
There are some standard tasks that your garden will require to stay healthy and strong.
You’ll need to weed regularly to keep your plants happy. Using your hoe and hands, you can remove weeds easily from your garden.
Applying mulch around your plants will also keep weed levels low. You’ll also need to control pests around your plants with plant protectors and pesticides.
Especially in dry seasons, your plants will need to be watered! Once a week is often enough to keep plants happy.
Your garden is your own, so don’t forget to decorate it as you see fit! Additions like windchimes and stained glass can be beautiful and relaxing. Projects like pinwheels are great DIY small garden ideas on a budget.
If your garden is large enough, consider cheap DIY garden path ideas to make your strolls through your plants easy. You can lay tile or stone, but pouring concrete is often cheaper (if you use only a small batch of concrete) and allows for more customisation.
You can pour concrete directly into a dug-out path, or into moulds for squares to lay along your path. You can add colour, texture, and embellishments like mosaics or shells to make your garden unique!
Concrete Taxi makes this quick and easy by bringing pre-mixed concrete directly to you. Save yourself the stress and use Concrete Taxi to get small batch concrete delivered right to your door.
