This year has been a pretty big year house wise and budget wise. I bought my first house two years ago and since then, I've been saving up to re-do the garden and re-decorate the house.  Initially the plan was to just focus on the garden this year and do the redecorating when I had put aside to cover it all but that didn't go to plan....but I will share those reveal photos over the coming weeks.

The garden was my first priority. As you can see from the photos below it was very bland colour wise, and in need of a lot of tender loving care.  The washing line had been cemented in which made the garden look and feel much smaller than it was and on the bottom left of the photo you will see a brick box with some plants which jutted out which was more of a trip hazard than anything else.

This project was a first for me. I had never done any sort of landscaping design before and I had a fairly small budget which I needed to keep all this work within.  Starting was the hardest part. I knew that I wanted the garden to be low maintenance. I knew that I wanted some colour in there. I knew that I wanted to open it up so that I could make the most of the space during summer time and I knew I needed to keep within budget which meant I needed to do as much of it myself as I could and be a very savvy shopper.



Top Tips For Giving Your Garden A Makeover

• If you are on a budget do as much as you can yourself. |  Painting the fencing is one of the first things that I did and only took a couple of hours to complete.  Instead of paying for someone to come and remove the gravel that was down, I advertised on Gumtree and offered the gravel for free to whoever was willing to shovel and take it away themselves. Another trick is to use what you have where you can. Little things like this can end up saving you a bundle.
• When hiring, see a few different companies. | There was absolutely no way that I could have done all of this on my own so I knew that a portion of my budget would have to go towards getting someone else to carry out the work.  I was very surprised to see how much of difference there was in quotes between the different companies so make sure that you get two to three different companies in.
• When obtaining the quote, also ask them for ideas. | One thing that I did with each of the companies who came to give me a quote was to ask them what they would do if this was there garden. It was a great way for me to get some ideas but more importantly, a great way to see how they think and how they communicate this.
• Write it down! | This was a biggie for me and I wish that I had actually done this.  Once I hired the company to do the work, we talked through what I wanted and then I left him to it, thinking that he would double check if he felt he needed clarity.  This was not the case which led to a few instances of me feeling stressed and wondering if it was going to turn out how I wanted.
• Have the full design figured out before starting. | This helps to avoid duplicate or unnecessary spending.  As I mentioned in the first point, I offered the gravel to anyone who was willing to come and collect...however I later decided that I wanted to put some gravel down the side flower beds and ended up having to go out and buy several bags of the stuff.
• Be open to some changes. |  I knew that this would be a toughie for me. I had the exact picture in my head of how I wanted it to look once finished but due to a couple unforeseen things, I had to make some changes and be OK with those changes.
• Time spent shopping for the best price is not wasted time. | I spent hours on-line and in shops searching for the best prices for my supplies.  It saved me a load of cash and I felt better knowing that I was still able to come in within my budget.