Hello everyone, I have a problem. I am on an extremely limited budget for my garden and yard. Our home is landscaped all around the house, and when we first moved in it was nicely edged with wood and mulched all the way to the house, forming an attractive border all along. Since then the wood rotted and we removed it and never replaced it, also allowing the mulch to disappear. Basically we neglected it. Now however we are back on track and trying to make amends. My question is this, since I am on such a severely limited budget, I would like anyone who has an idea for replacing the border all along the house. Any ideas viable, cheap, and creative are welcome. I have been told to make friends with the local tree trimming services in our area, for free or cheap mulch, it's really the border I am looking for help on. We appreciate your help in this, so thanks in advance :) me.
Possibly broken concrete left from where someone has taken out a concrete walk. That's what you need, something free that is rubbish to someone else but usable material to you - same as with arborist wood chips.
that's a thought, but I would also need to make it attractive to all, for we might be selling the home in the next year or two. so how would I make concrete, look attractive?
Broken concrete can be stacked like a stone wall. It is a pretty plentiful product and you can be picky about getting the right shape pieces. Other things you can scavenge for include pallet lumber; I live in a semi-industrial area and they are always available out in the alley for pick-up. It isn't cedar, but will last as long as you need it to to show the house.
Along the concrete line... I have recently stacked a bunch of large and small rocks I have found, along my front walk, I then filled in the spaces with a bag of soil and transplanted some succulents and stone crop varieties.... anything drought resistant. I also have little money to spend on such things so this worked out well. I have also been rooting the runners from the parent Sempervivum.
How do you know Chris? :) I really liked the idea of the concrete with the succulents in it, so I think I might give that a try. me.
I second the broken concrete idea. I did that and it looks fantastic. No one even knows its concrete. If you get lots of creeping and hanging plants (clippings easily found in overrun gardens of your friends and neighbors...or in vacant lots etc etc) they will soften the edges and it will look like an old english stone wall in no time! And the people with the broken concrete will LOVE you for getting rid of it for them! Try Craigslist for free plants and concrete.
You might try some sort of colour scheme on some of the concrete blocks to disguise them even more. We have a solar guard house paint over here that needs no undercoat and comes in some great colours. Greens, earthy colours to quite bright. A colour with the succulents etc could look interesting. Maybe it could tie in with a colour on the house. Or there are concrete paints Liz
The wood chips may work, depending on the look you like. Sure would be nice to see an image. If $1 per linear foot is not to expensive for you, I've enjoyed using this flexible the past few years, called "Bendaboard" - fairly close its trade name. Not Bender Board, but closer to Bend a Board. It's acually fairly thick, not like the thin junk some people may think it is that's been sold for decades. You can stand on the edge of this. Yet flexible enough to roll 20 to fit in a truck bed or a trunk. I use the stakes that are made for it, and drive screws in with a drill. Here, I used it on a water feature and planting I'm developing for a family memeber...
MD Vaden...wow! What a spectacular project. Great job. Even on a limited budget, the wood chips are very effective and you get instant gratification.
I too am on a limited budget and I am going to go to the WMA near my house and collect rocks. Also try looking around at construction sites for rocks when they are excavating. Remember to ask permission to take the rocks away. I have broken concrete I am going to have to haul away thanks to the trashy previous owners of my home. I thought about using it instead of the rocks but I like the look of the rocks much better.
If you go with the concrete idea, be creative in your design. Don't just stack on the flat end but try pushing the concrete into the dirt standing upright. You can make a creative border standing it upright like this ^^^^^ then do another row in front that is a bit lower/smaller. Concrete can look very nice if you get creative.
