13 Best Gardening Tips for a Gorgeous Budget Friendly Oasis

by Julie Briggs

The weather is still touch and go here in Central New York, but I’ve been sneaking in a little time in the garden when the temperature is reasonable. Spring clean up is NO FUN, but I love it when it’s done and I know I can look forward to another gorgeous season drinking wine or mojitos on my deck. While my entire house changed drastically since I bought it, the transformation of my backyard is probably the most dramatic, so I thought I would share my 13 Best Gardening Tips I’ve learned along the way.

13 best gardening tips for a gorgeous budget friendly oasis, gardening, how to, outdoor living

This is what the backyard looked like when I bought the house – and please excuse the quality of these photos….they were probably taken on a disposable camera!

My narrow city lot featured a scrappy looking lumpy lawn with tons of weeds, some ugly railroad ties, bad drainage and a deck that was not connected to the house.

After contemplating the situation, I decided the crappy “lawn” was not worth salvaging, so my first summer there I made the entire yard a garden with winding gravel paths.

I did this entirely by myself with a rented rototiller and many, many wheel barrels of gravel and mulch. My new neighbors thought I was insane…and they may have been right. The gravel came from a friend down the street who was getting rid of it, so it was free – I just had to wheel it down the block. You know, not looking crazy or anything.

This photo was taken a year or two later – everything was filling in nicely.

A few years later, I was feeling like I wanted more usable space to entertain back there, so I decided to eliminate the middle island and install a flagstone patio up to the borders around the perimeter. This is what it looked like right after I put it in:

I did this mostly by myself too, other then some help with a BobCat from a friend leveling out the yard and installing the 3 steps in the back – I couldn’t figure out how to do that for the life of me.

In 2013 I had to redo the deck, which was awful to begin with and had begun to actually fall apart. I added a pergola to the project, which is one of my best decisions ever.

My little urban lot has come a LONG way, and I’ve taught myself a ton through LOTS of trial and error. Head over to my blog for the best lessons I’ve learned going from a novice green thumb to the owner of a full lot garden.

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 7 comments

Valerie on May 16, 2016
What a wonderful transformation! You must be so incredibly proud.

1 Reply
Zeebo on Jun 06, 2016
Enjoy your oasis and the compliments you will receive, you deserve it.

Like Reply