5 Ideas For A Stylelish Garden Makeover On A Budget

Anyone planning a garden makeover will have no doubt spent time thumbing through magazines and exploring projects online and then been brought up short when they discover what these will cost. This is a common problem for professional garden designers who find that their client’s ambitions exceed their available budget. But there are ways to create the luxe look without breaking the bank as Genevieve Schmidt explains in her article which I found on the Garden Design Magazine website.

With all of the beautiful projects shown online and in magazines, it?s not hard for your taste level to outstrip your budget. How do professional designers handle this challenge? By cleverly reusing existing materials, amping up the star power on a few key elements, and using inexpensive techniques that actually look better than their pricier counterparts, they are able to get major bang for a little less buck. Here?s how they do it.
Give ho-hum elements a modern makeover

(Photo by: Alejandro Velarde)

When Scott Mulholland of CREO Landscape Architecture in San Francisco first visited the site above, an uninspired concrete patio surrounded by a scalloped top fence gave it a drab and uninviting appearance. Instead of starting from scratch, which would have cost more, he saw cut the existing concrete patio into a more proportional shape, and gave it a new life as the base for Connecticut bluestone pavers, which were mortared into place.
By refinishing the fence and cutting the scalloped edge off the top, he was able to give it a more streamlined and contemporary look. Then, many of the plantings were reused in an organized, repeated planting for greater impact. By repurposing the existing concrete as a base for the bluestone and giving the functional-but-dull fence a makeover, he saved enough to splurge on the bluestone pavers as well as ipe seatwalls to give this urban backyard a high-end, finished look.
Go horizontal with fencing

(Photo by: Kayo Shibano)

Sometimes a simple design tweak can elevate the ordinary into an eye-catching feature of the landscape. Though a fence is often thought of as a backdrop that is meant to recede visually from furnishings and plantings, a horizontal wooden fence like this one makes everything around it look good, and doesn?t cost any more than a traditional vertical fence. Next to a ?statement? fence like this, a simple concrete or gravel patio exudes simplicity and class, allowing you to get a majorly stylish look without expensive materials.