How can i create a Low cost, low maintenance garden, that looks nice?

At the minute i have a little porch out the front and french doors leading out to the garden, which is fenced with a lowish fence, the gate is next to the little porch. Outside the porch and french doors there are small white stones but weeds have grown through them, the rest of the garden is dull looking grass!


This is my new house and i want to change it from the previous owners. I also dislike the white stones.


All ideas welcome

How can i create a Low cost, low maintenance garden, that looks nice?
When I'm faced with a potentially expensive project and want to do it cheaply, I first hit the library, or the internet (if adequate resources are available).





The following materials will prove invaluable when installing gardens and beds:


*Shovel


*Spade


*Wheel Burrow or Garden Cart


*Rake


*Seeds and Plants (Don't purchase this item until you've read the instructions below)





Tips and Tricks For Simple Gardening:


When creating a garden, it's best to think of space planning. Grid out the area on paper, and then watch the areas that you decide that you wish to put plants on. In order to decrease the costs of the garden, you will want to know about how much sun the areas you plan to place plants get every day (not doing this places your plants at risk of becoming stunted or perhaps dieing).





Depending on how fast you want your change, you should probably start with seed and bulbs to decrease cost. A quicker solution would be to purchase plants.





In order to protect the plant beds from weeds, it would also be best to put mulch down around the plants after you have finished your plantings.





Your rocks will likely have to be moved manually (By shovel, or by other means; depending on size), and then replaced with whatever you want there.
Reply:just buy a little soil andd some seds. draw out the amount of space with a shovel or hoe, dig up the grass within the area, put down soil, plants seeds, water daily, and there you grow!
Reply:all you need is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground...
Reply:I like to go to places like Lowes and Home Depot and purchase a lot of their discontinued or clearance flowers and I plant them and water them and when they get rooted, they usually come back beautiful. Its best not to invest a lot of money when you first start your garden, just in case, things don't work out for you. Experiment with a lot of flowers that are easy to grow and do "come back" each year. Perennials come back every year but Annuals do not. Keep your stones for decorations, but make sure ALL your weeds are pulled out or killed with WEED_BEGONE or another weed killer.Just keep planting and sometimes there are Garden centers that give away free plants once or twice a year. Good Luck. Oh,and do Get the right fertilizer from the start.
Reply:OK u have 2 choices for planting flowers, i assume u want them to come back every year so u probably want perennials. so u can buy bulbs and plant them this fall, or u can wait till this spring and go to a store like Lowes or something and buy the plants that have already grow and u have to do is bring them home and plant them.





Lowes has a good variety of perennials and they r not overly expensive.
Reply:Here's some sites with landscaping pictures of front yards:


http://www.kerrilandscape.com/index.asp?...


http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...


This last picture illustrates how you can use a few well placed shrubs %26amp; some brightly-colored flowering plants in front of them to create a beautiful front yard.


Nice %26amp; neat %26amp; color up front wouldn't cost much.





This next site provides info on foundation planting:


http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_design_borde...


Choose plants according to the amount of sunlight or shade the desired area receives. Also keep winter in mind, especially in northern parts of the country. Choose a variety of plants but keep growing conditions in mind. Keep out weeds with plenty of mulch.





These pictures illustrate how the use of mulch pulls everything together %26amp; helps define the space. Just a few shrubs are the backdrop for the flowers:


http://www.landscapingwithstyle.on.ca/ph...


More front yard gardens:


http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...





Garden Plans, Yard Makeovers, Garden Designs, Outdoor Rooms:


http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jsp?cate...


Good luck! Hope this was helpful.
Reply:I would consider investing in some grass seed because you said that your garden's grass is very dull. Grass seed doesn't have to cost a lot and usually you can find some at your local Ace Hardware, Home Depot or Lowe's. Also, if you don't like the white stones in your garden, just remove them and replace them with other stones you can also get at your local home improvement center. Now, if you want flowers in your garden you can get nice looking but inexpensive flowers at your local home improvement center. Now, you said you want it to be low-maintenance as well. Well, I suggest investing in some self-watering flower bulbs so you don't have to keep constantly watering your plants. These will give the plants water only when they need them.


Hoped that helped!
Reply:talk to your neighbors as to what grows there. Fall is coming and planting bulbs is easy and not real expensive. Who knows some of your neighbors may have stuff you can have if theirs has overgrown...sounds beautiful!

erythema