Backyard Landscaping Ideas on a Budget That You NEED to Know!

Unfortunately, landscaping can often be expensive, so you may be wondering if there are any solutions out there that won’t cost an arm and a leg. The good news is that there are plenty of affordable options for creating a beautiful backyard that’ll be the envy of the neighborhood.

How Do I Landscape My Yard on a Budget?

There are simple and time-tested hacks you can use to update your home’s curb appeal on a budget. For example, you can freshen up the mulch around trees and shrubs, grow native plants that don’t require a lot of water, improve edging, trim back dead tree limbs, and more.

The key is getting creative with your solutions and doing most of the work yourself instead of hiring someone. DIYing your own backyard ideas is much less expensive than paying a landscaper to do it for you.

1. Create a Walkway With Inexpensive Materials

Stones or pavers make great inexpensive walkways. You can create your walkway to reflect a variety of styles. Whether you’re going for rustic charm or sleek and modern, you can likely find affordable pavers to help you achieve the design you’re looking for.

You can purchase stepping stones or pavers for your backyard space at your local home improvement stores like Lowes, Home Depot, or Ace Hardware. If you really want to create a unique, one-of-a-kind, look, look for stones in your local landscape to create a natural design.

Look along hiking trails and creekbeds for a variety of stone sizes, colors, and shapes. Just make sure it’s legal to take the rocks in the area you choose. It may be prohibited in some locations.

2. Buy Simple Flower Pots

Upgrade the look of your outdoor room or deck with simple flower pots. You can purchase cheap flower pots at dollar stores, Amazon, or home improvement stores. Just remember the more ornate and detailed the design, the more expensive the flower pot will be.

You can even create a DIY project by buying plain flower pots and decorating them with paint or designs with craft supplies if you like doing craft projects.

This idea doesn’t take a lot of skill.  With potting soil, some inexpensive perennial plants, and flower pots, you can create your own beautiful potted plant displays for your outdoor room or backyard makeover.

3. Decorate With Outdoor String Lights

Another one of our favorite cheap landscaping ideas is using outdoor string lights around your backyard. You can use them in endless ways, from lining things in your outdoor space for pathway lighting or hanging them from trees like fairy lights.

You can even put them in glass lanterns to make them a focal point around your outdoor seating or throughout your backyard. Simple string lights are one of my favorite garden features we like to decorate with. And if you’re in need of some garden party decoration ideas, you can’t go wrong with adding some extra lighting to set the mood!

4. Avoid Planting Annuals

While annual plants like impatiens, geraniums, verbena, and petunias add pretty pops of color to your yard, they only last for one season.  Also, these annual plants won’t survive winter in the U.S. Not only can purchasing and planting annuals be expensive, but it can also be time-consuming.

We suggest choosing pretty perennials over annuals since they live for more than just one season. And some perennials, like peonies, lavender, and day lilies, can keep returning for years, even decades, to freshen up your outdoor area.

5. Use Outdoor Rugs to Cover Worn Decks or Paving

If your backyard deck or patio looks worn and tired, replacing it can be really expensive. Instead, save money by buying a pretty outdoor rug to cover it. Outdoor rugs come in all sizes and shapes and are made out of durable and sometimes cheaper materials for a tight budget.

Using outdoor rugs is a cost-effective alternative to laying a new concrete slab or completely rebuilding your deck just because it’s a little drab. However, sometimes replacing decks or patios that aren’t safe is necessary, but you can save money over time for this by adopting frugal habits and living below your means.

6. Use Borders to Groom Your Backyard

Another great tip for backyard landscaping ideas on a budget is to polish your backyard is using borders like border boxes, pavers, plastic barriers, rocks, metal edging, or other garden materials. The sky is the limit when it comes to bordering your garden beds, but they can really neaten things up and create a unique space.

Another great backyard landscaping idea for borders is pretty fencing. It’s actually some of the least expensive backyard ideas for an elegant-edged design. Look at shorter, cheaper fencing options. You can even have that white picket fence you’ve always wanted.

Using borders creates separate spaces that look sleek, even if you have a small garden or outdoor space.

7. Conserve Water to Save Money

Watering your flowers can increase your water bill in some areas, especially where it is hot. Some plants need more water, so planting drought and sun-tolerant perennials can help you save money on water.

And you can conserve more water over time by laying down mulch or installing an automatic irrigation system. You can even use xeriscaping which involves designing a landscape that can withstand droughts.

8. Use Mulch

Another one of my favorite affordable backyard ideas is spreading mulch. Mulch comes in a variety of shades that can make any flower bed or landscape pop. If you have a lot of flower beds or a large backyard, mulching can get expensive, but if you spread a thinner layer, you can save money.

You can even get free mulch like leaves, straw, compost, or wood chips if you’re looking for cheaper options for your flower beds.

9. Fill Big Gaps in Your Backyard With Ornamental Grasses

Tall ornamental grasses like Indian grass or switch grass are great for filling large spaces in your garden or yard. As a bonus, they add movement and texture to your outdoor living space.

These types of grasses are great cheap landscaping ideas because they are inexpensive and grow fast to fill spaces quickly.

10. Create a DIY Fire Pit

Everyone loves sitting around the warm glow of a fire pit, but these are backyard ideas that can be pricey if you purchase one at a home improvement store. But never fear; you can DIY your own fire pit using sand and pavers.

While there are no real skills involved, someone more experienced will be able to create a more intricate or fancy fire pit. But you can design a simple one to start for around $100 or less.

11. Trim Existing Shrubs for Structure

While trimming shrubs is not one of my favorite tasks, reshaping them adds structure and dimension to your yard. Best of all, if you already have hedge clippers, it won’t cost you any money to spruce up your flower beds.

You may even want to think about adding shrubbery like boxwood, thuja confers, or even plants like honeysuckle will make pretty and fragrant options.