Cost-effective ways to revamp your home’s outdoor spaces

*This is a collaborative post.

As the weather warms up and the days draw out, our attentions turn towards our outside spaces. At this time of the year, our front and rear gardens can look a bit worse for wear. 

This can make us feel quite dissatisfied, with cracked driveways, broken fences and empty borders hard to ignore. Hiring someone to landscape and refresh all of our outside spaces would be the easiest solution but finances don’t always stretch that far. This means we need to be picky about what to tackle now and what to leave for later. 

So, where should you concentrate your cash and what jobs will be most worthwhile to do? And what tricks can you employ to rejuvenate what’s there without spending too much? Here are a few cost-effective ways to revamp your outside spaces.

Redo your driveway

An attractive driveway helps to give your home some much-needed kerb appeal, raising its value and giving you something to be proud of. It’s also incredibly practical for homes on busy roads. So, it’s certainly one of the top areas to focus your funds. 

Redoing a driveway doesn’t have to cost thousands of pounds. If stone pavers are out of your price range, you could consider a stamped concrete driveway instead. Patterns can mimic stone cobbles and tiles and can be coloured to look like sandstone, slate or limestone. Plus, it’s durable and low maintenance, making it a good choice when you need to make your budget go further. With installation prices falling between £27 and £32 per m², the typical concrete driveway cost is less than half that of a paved one.

Repair boundaries 

Broken fences can leave a house looking neglected and can make it attractive to intruders. So, this is an area of your garden that’s also worth spending time and money on. 

You may be able to replace broken panels if the posts are still in good condition. This will save you from needing to install a whole new line of fencing and will keep costs down. But if it is time to redo the whole lot, you’ll find that picket and standard lap fence panels are usually the cheapest to buy. Lap fences cost from around £30 a panel and picket fences from about £25. Choosing panels made from pressure-treated wood should ensure they last a long time.

Rejig planting

The best-looking gardens are those filled with lots of plant life. But if your garden is struggling with weedy shrubs and scorched-looking plants, you might feel like this is impossible to achieve without spending lots of money.

However, you may be able to improve things with very little outlay. Often when plants struggle it’s because they’re not in the right place. So, rejigging them could give you much better results. 

First, you’ll need to identify what you have, then you can look up their specific needs. Some plants can deal with sun and shade but many have a particular preference. And tall plants may need some support or shelter to help them flourish. If it’s the soil that’s the problem, you can improve drainage by adding in grit or provide more moisture by channelling rainwater from your house to the borders. 

If you do need to restock your plants, be sure to choose hardy varieties as they’ll need less attention and consider going for evergreens, so you get greenery all year round. Or go for perennials, to ensure your flowers come back year after year. 

Clean up the patio

Brushing and washing down your patio can give your paving slabs a new lease of life. Weeds can be raked out of the cracks and jointing compound can be used to fill the gaps and shore up the surface. 

You might find a pressure washer is worth investing in to take the effort out of patio cleaning and to save you from needing to use chemical cleaners. A basic pressure washer can be picked up for as little as £80, so you needn’t spend a lot of money on one. But before you splash out, check your paving slabs are suitable for pressure cleaning and check what type of attachment is most suitable. Some pressure washer models come with both lance and brush attachments, but not all. 

Create a cosy garden nook

Start by repurposing items you already have. Consider using old crates or pallets to craft simple seating arrangements, topped with cushions and throws for added comfort. For a cost-effective focal point, invest in hammocks which provide both relaxation and a touch of whimsy. Opt for durable materials that can withstand the elements, ensuring your hammock remains a beloved fixture for years to come.
To enhance the ambience, incorporate soft outdoor lighting with string lights or lanterns, casting a warm glow as the sun sets. Finally, add personal touches like wind chimes or decorative accents to make your cosy nook a relaxing retreat.

Put up a shed

Tidying up garden clutter and stowing away items that aren’t being used is a good way to make your garden look better. It can also help to make small gardens appear bigger. But to do this, you need somewhere to put things. 

That’s what makes a shed so handy. So, if you don’t already have one, it might be worth spending some money putting one up. The average cost of this is around £700 but if it’s providing a place to put garden furniture, empty plant pots and gardening tools, it’s well worth the cost. Not only does it help to keep your garden neat but it also helps to protect these items from frost and water damage, so they’ll last longer.