Just because your garden is small does not mean it has to be boring.
Enjoy the summer months by making your outdoor space into another room with some simple tips and ideas to make the most of your small garden on a budget.
Check out:
- Cheap garden seating ideas
- Add a splash of colour – garden paints & varnishes
- Cheap planters & garden pots
- Affordable firepits & braziers
- Cheap outdoor lights & candles
- High impact, low-cost plants
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More money-saving ideas around the home |
Garden seating for under £50
One of the key items to making your garden more usable is to have somewhere nice, stylish and comfortable to sit while you enjoy the sunshine and admire your garden makeover.
For those with a tiny garden it can be a good idea to get chairs that can fold up and be stashed away when more space in the garden is needed.
The beauty of being able to fold away a chair also means they stay pristine longer as you can keep them out of the rain. Just make sure you have space to store them!
These B&Q beach chairs are great value at £12 (meaning you can get chairs for a family of four for under £50) but also come in funky colours including green, hot pink or pale blue.
For those wanting something a bit more hard wearing and able to be left out in all weathers, these modern grey metal chairs would make a good choice: 
How about something a bit less formal? These brilliant weather-proof beanbags come in a variety of fun colours and are great for those who like to slouch in the sun. They are currently on offer at just £47:
Check out beanbags on Marks & Spencer
Why not add in a table too so you can eat outside. This wooden set with two chairs and a table folds up so you can stash it away when you’re not using it and all for £40!
Check out 2x Chairs & Table Set
Or if you want to imagine yourself sitting outside in a French bistro then these two tables and chairs for £55 fits the bill and (bonus!) just edges over B&Qs threshold for free delivery too!
Paint the fence a cool colour
One really fun way to bring your garden area to life is to paint the garden fence (or shed) in an eye-popping colour.
Most fence varnishes come in at £15 or less, so for a few hours painting time you can add a really impactful change to your garden.
Mediterranean blue hues can contrast nicely with terracotta pots or bring out deep green foliage, this one is only £11:
Check out Cuprinol Shades Beach Blue
Or how about this soft pink shade, called pomegranate?
Sage green also works really well in the garden if you prefer a more subtle colour:
Check out sage green varnish on B&Q
Cheap Garden planters & Pots
Pots make a really lovely and low maintenance garden feature, especially in a small garden or even on a balcony. You can fill them with flowering plants, statement grasses or even grow some vegetables in them.
Pots are also useful ways to demark spaces, so if you have a patio and want to section it off slightly from the lawn, a selection of plants in pots along the margin can create a beautiful and effective screen.
These 1 metre long troughs would be great for creating a border to your patio and come in a variety of colours. They have enough space in to fit a plethora of plants, vegetables or herbs.
Planting with herbs is especially nice near a seating area as they give off scent when you brush past and are handy for adding garnishes to your barbecue.
Check out garden troughs on Etsy
You can get a nice selection of herbs (including parsley, coriander, basil, mint & dill) all for just £3:
Terracotta pots are classic and look especially effective set in a group with different sized or shaped pots, just make sure they are intended for outdoor use, like this one which, at around £25, is a bargain for terracotta:
Check out terracotta pots on B&Q
If you’re really pushed for space these great brightly-coloured metal pots can hang from a fence or balcony and are great value at 10 pots for £14.99:
Cheap FIrepits & Braziers
Once your garden is looking nice you’ll want to enjoy sitting out in it into the evenings and a lovely way to do this is around a fire pit.
Braziers need not cost the earth, you can find some good value options.
Braziers are best if you burn wood or charcoal in them, they should give off a nice heat for everyone to sit around and you can toast a marshmallow while you’re there:
This really cute firepit is great for a smaller garden as it is nice and dinky but great value at just £23:
This firepit has the added bonus of a grill that you can add on top so you can keep warm and cook a few burgers and sausages at the same time!
A great space-saver:
Pro tip on this one: it doesn’t deal that well with the rain, so make sure you have a shed or garage to store it in!
Candles and lights
There’s something special about string lighting, it makes me think of parties and having fun.
These old-skool style bulbs from Amazon look especially festive.
We have some solar-powered lights like these in our pear tree and it is so lovely when they light up automatically every evening as the sun goes down.
You can feel virtuous too. They are solar-powered so they do not need to use electricity or batteries.
An added bonus of that means you don’t have to fiddle around with extension cables or plugging them in – you can literally put them wherever you want, so long as they get a decent bit of a sunshine to charge their battery you’re good to go!
Coloured lights are also a favourite – we love these ones from Marks & Spencer:
Check them out on Marks & Spencer
Candle light is another way to get a lovely glow in your gardens in the evening. Etsy have some beautiful metal lanterns that look great but are good value too:
They’re pretty popular – the larger sizes especially – often selling out but hang in there until they restock!
High impact plants
Knowing where to start with plants can be hard, but if you pick a couple of high impact plants then you can build the shape of your garden around those. If you have a paved or gravel garden then placing a few architectural plants in pots can really make a statement.
A couple of good plants to get you going include:
Magnolia – about £30 – a small tree with enormous pink flowers, what’s not to like?
Forsythia – about £25 – this compact shrub has gorgeous bright yellow flowers in spring and is low-maintenance
Sambucus – about £18 – This striking shrub has dark red/black foliage and sprays of soft pink flowers, it likes a sunny spot:
Hellebore – around £8 – if you have a shady garden then hellebores are the plant for you. They have lovely dark green leaves and beautiful flowers in the bare winter months: