5 BUDGET FRIENDLY IDEAS TO LANDSCAPE YOUR GARDEN YARD

Maybe you are one of those who as a kid liked to play gardener by spending a lot of time in the yard uprooting plants from the lawn of your neighbours and replanting them in your yard, and wishing the night never came—or detest whenever your parents called you in for a shower and dinner in order to get ready for bed.

And for some reason you have carried over that passion into adulthood, but the short-comings of being an adult—like work, marriage, relationships, and business can’t afford you the time of day to properly take on the project of exquisitely beautifying your garden to an impeccable taste.

Don’t be dismayed as here are a few pointers with regards to setting up a hand-made garden.

Building Tools

Before starting out on your gardening project, it is important to take an inventory of all the tools you have at your disposal. As folks from Sweet New Earth suggest, fewer solid, and specific-purpose tools are way better than several tools laying on your shelf without any particular use for them.

Below are tools grouped in a way to help you classify and arrange your tools.

• Power Tools: Handheld power drills, cordless leaf blowers, electric chop box, and circular saw.

• Hand tools: Hand saw, hammer, screwdriver, wire and bolt cutters, pliers, tin snips, needle-nose pliers and builder’s level.

• Other supplies: Duct tape, nails, wire, screws, hooks, binder clips, pencils, extension cords, bungee cords, heavy-duty construction adhesive, scissors, whisk broom, dust pan, step ladder, and plastic tarp.

Safety

It is very important to take precautions when planning a home garden project. Sharp objects, rust, moving parts, pointy blades and harmful dirt, are all potential risk hazards waiting to happen. It is therefore apparent to first take it slow and work progressively without any rush. If possible get yourself a small safety manual. Here are also some guidelines.

• Try to make your work space as free as possible by arranging and making room for every material and tools—and do make sure to have proper lighting

• Always put on close-fitting, protective clothing. Avoid loose ties or dangling cords, ropes, and wires that has the potential of being dangerously entangled.

• It is mandatory for you to always use a simple, well-fitted and disposable dust mask to prevent you from inhaling harmful dust or unsafe particles—you should pay particular attention to this if you are suffering from any lung condition, like asthma.

• As much as possible, wear gloves or any hand-protective gear when dealing with a solvent based liquid and glues. This is one thing you should always have in your tool box.

• Make the use of eye protective gear a norm. especially when operating any hand tool or equipment. In the same light, try to wear boots with toe protection, so that in the event that a tool or material falls on your legs while lifting, you will come out on the right side of that accident.

• And the last but not the least, endeavour to always have a well stocked first aid kit with bandages, sterile cotton, antibacterial gel and wipes with alcohol based isopropyl. It will also be prudent that you are also up to date with your tetanus vaccinations.

Eco-salvaging and Repurposing

This is the first thing you actually ought to do first in prepping for your home gardening escapades, but in doing this you have to first become safety compliant before scouting for tools and things needed for your home landscaping. Cleaning out the garage or sorting through your basement will be the first place you want to start, in looking for tools or materials you can repurpose for use in your hand-made garden.

If it so happens that you don’t have the luxury of owning a garage or a basement for that matter—then you can always turn to friends and family or even neighbours—which I’m sure that, they will be more than willing to allow you scout there garages and basements, especially if they have any of those clustered.

Materials

You will be amazed at the things you are likely to find after scouting your neighbourhood for things you can reuse when preparing for your home garden. It is, however, important to think ahead and articulate materials that best express your personality, after all, at the end of the day. You want a garden that you will feel comfortable with, plus you are most likely going to be spending a lot of time there. You might also be considering illuminating your garden with some sort of beautiful source of light. For example, Landscape Lighting Toronto is a great way of installing lighting. It is best to classify these potential materials into several groups.

• Wood: leftover planks, used shelves, broken furniture, sticks, cardboard, newspaper, bamboo, pine cones, logs and barks.

• Metal: Food grade cans, old watering cans, wire, chain, metal bits, irregular sheet metals, copper, tin, metal hanging pots, metal sculptures, galvanized bucket, etc.

• Plastic and other materials: Pvc pipes, plastic containers, sea shells, rocks, stones, gravel, tumbled glass, pottery, glass bottles and jars, bits of rope, canvas, plastic tarps, etc.

Gravel pathway

In conclusion, eco-friendly gravel is about the fastest and cheapest way to lay a durable pathway or patio. Once implemented, you can then enhance the aesthetics with an array of bluestone pavers set into the gravel. The calm colour of the stone echoes the basalt gravel while veins of woody brown adds a touch of warmness.