What's the best way to design your backyard and at a low cost?

I have an empty canvas and don't know where to begin?
  9 answers
  • OldLadyByTheLake OldLadyByTheLake on Apr 13, 2017

    Low cost is the biggest challenge. It's hard to tell from the picture but the soil looks red and very dry which indicates clay base and hot weather climate. If you want to plant a garden you're going to have to have fertile top soil brought in. You should cover everything with black weed blocking landscape fabric before you do anything so you don't have weeds coming up through whatever you put down from now until the end of time. If you don't want to mow a lawn but want to garden you could pour a concert patio and then cover everything else with a nice gravel. They have really pretty stepping stones you could place down in the gravel to create paths. Good luck.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Apr 13, 2017

    First off before anyone can help you what is your location,planting zone,water,lighting soil etc.What are your thoughts of what you want to accomplish in a landscape.

  • Blaire Simpson Oslander Blaire Simpson Oslander on Apr 13, 2017

    Plan first, plant last! First, what functions do you want in your yard? Play space, entertaining, pool down the road, etc. Do you want fruit trees? Shade trees? Vegetable garden? Patio, patio cover? Make a list, prioritize and set a budget. Next, plan your irrigation. Trees need a separate zone, shrubs another, raised bed another, potted plants another, etc. Plan to put plants with similar water needs clustered into separate zones. Plants should be placed at least 3 feet away from your foundation, trees further based on their eventual size. Hardscape should go in first, then irrigation, and then you can plant as you have budget. 15 gallon plants will do better in the long run and cost less than 24" box plants and save you money. Holes should be a minimum of 4' wide for trees. Rent a jackhammer if needed, you'll get more done in less time. Find out what USDA zone you're in and buy plants that will do well in that climate. Some plants like to be planted in the fall, others in the spring. Native or native like plants don't require amended soil, tilth is more important. So, to get the best yard, spend some time thinking about it before you dive in and you'll save money and effort. Good luck!

  • Awesome space! You have a great yard. I so agree with OldLadyByTheLake. And go slow and do what you can afford. Here is what I would do. Work in sections. If you plan on adding an additional slab eventually, that will be great. But not cheap, so start saving those big pennies. I would also add in a pergola or sun shade at some point too. I would lay andscape fabric and bring in rocks and put down stepping stones. This will at least cut down on the dust and make the yard usable from the get go. Look on line and see what rock gardens appeal to you. Add in benderboard and get multiple colors and variety of rocks to provide interest. Hunt sales, thrift and second hand stores, goodwill for giant pots and plant sun loving plants in them and surround your existing patio. Anything in ground will have to be heavily amedned. Once you have lived there a few months see where you might want to place trees. Then invest in even small ones suited to your climate. Even a few inexpensive trees will grow quickly enough. If you want any sort of garden, I would install some sort of irrigation system. Even if you can't afford it now, get a few free estimates to see what it will cost and what you need to save to get there. And most importantly, be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day, your yard can still be fun and usable with bits of money invested here and there when you can afford it.

  • Loistheknitter Loistheknitter on Apr 14, 2017

    Besides all the valuable information already given I suggest looking at picture in magazines and books to see what look like what you would like. Good Luck

  • L L on Apr 15, 2017

    I live in a desert. Coming from California, I tried to re-create a little bit of

    flowering and fruit trees in my yard, but not being familiar with the desert heat, I ended up losing many plants, and trees. Depending on the look you are going for, the best advice I have is to figure out where you would want shaded areas, whether you want diffused light, or strong shade. Are you planning on building a pool, or do you want an extended patio area off of your immediate patio. That will help you to decide if you want to plant some trees, how large? or how small? will it lose it's leaves? flowering? fruit trees? I finally realized that if I wanted any kind of a flowering garden, I would have to create some shade against the hot sun. Someone else mentioned a pergola.....trees or pergola, or both? If you decide on trees, I would go to the nursery, and get advise on which trees grow the best in your climate, including fruit trees, and depending on what you want the tree to do for you, pick something that will grow fine, and fast to create an environment for future shaded area planning. I also agree with the other advise that was given to you to use weed type barriers, rocks, gravel; what kind of paths, or patio area do you want? How much does your water cost. It's expensive where I live. Maybe combine native plants with plants that take more water, after creating a shaded area for them to grow. How much time do you want to spend in the yard working? vegetable garden? raking leaves? I was surprise too, to find out how many edible plants and herbs an tolerate mostly, or all shade for the area of the yard that is shaded by the next door house; just a thought. Have fun!

  • Sue Noddy Sue Noddy on Apr 16, 2017

    Start with an ideas board, pin onto it pics you like from magazines, or google. Next take a pencil, eraser and paper, paste a pic of your home at top, now doodle varied shapes of gardens (please don't just go around the edges of the fence with gardens lol) doodle in some 'garden rooms' - decking, childrens area, a screen for the bins or just to create another 'room' etc. Doodle until you are happy with the design. in between times talk to neighbours, nurseries, other people in the community and find out what does and does not grow in your area, which supplier has the best garden soil, cheapest rocks or logs etc. Think about if you want to put a watering system in as you go, look at the sun and discover what times of day which areas are in sun and shade. It is worth taking the time before doing anything to plan and research.

  • Dfm Dfm on Apr 22, 2017

    I would contact a few landscape designers /specialists. I wasn't that much money to have a landscape designer come and evaluate my property . i did as the above commentators suggested- an idea board, where does shade hit etc. for about 50 usd i had a local landscape company draw up a plan. It took about 3 yrs for the plan to be fully realized.

  • Jnc22440961 Jnc22440961 on May 03, 2017

    Plan out a grid of your backyard go the furthest section back and work toward your home use the zone for planting in your area and realize the height and width a plant a tree or the spread of it will reach kind of Mark that out before planting just do a small section at a time unless you have the money to go full bore with a local nurseryman.