Having a new home built is a popular option for many Australians. It allows you to have a thoroughly modern home which is perfectly configured to suit your lifestyle and your family's needs. One of the few downsides to this choice is that, unlike older, more established homes, your new home will generally sit on a bare, un-landscaped lot which has been somewhat scarred by the building process.
While some new home-owners use professional landscaping companies to create a beautiful outdoor landscape, for many others this is out of their budget after the expense of building their home, buying new soft furnishings and updating their furniture. Fortunately, it's possible to landscape your new garden on a shoe-string budget by following the tips below.
Shop smart for plants
One of the biggest expenses of landscaping, after labour, is the cost of the plants. You can save a huge amount by shopping at a wholesale nursery instead of a regular garden centre. Wholesale nurseries like Din San Nursery offer a wide range of immature and established plants. You'll often get a further discount if you buy all of your plants in bulk and pick them up yourself.
You can increase your savings by buying seedlings or immature plants instead of larger, more established plants. Although they'll lack the immediate impact that larger plants provide, it won't take long for smaller plants to mature and fill your garden with foliage. You can speed up this process by choosing rapid growing varieties of plants such as bamboos, grasses and Lilly Pillis.
Forget about buying turf
Laying down thick, verdant turf on your bare ground is a fast and gratifying way to create a lawn space for your family to enjoy. Unfortunately, this sense of immediate gratification also comes with a hefty price tag, especially if you have a large area to turf.
If you're prepared to exercise some patience, sowing your own grass seed is the budget-friendly way to create a lawn space. A bag of lawn seed and some appropriate fertiliser will cost you next to nothing from a wholesale nursery. Choose a low maintenance, hardy and drought-friendly variety of grass and you'll also save yourself a great deal in future watering and lawn care costs.
Get professional advice
Although doing the landscaping yourself generally means avoiding paying a professional, booking a short consultation with a landscaper or garden designer may well be the best money you spend on your garden.
Even a very short consultation can provide you with expert advice on the right plants for your soil type, suitable plants for privacy screening and a basic plan for what you'd like to achieve overall. Expert advice means you won't waste time and money on plants that won't thrive in your garden or that will need to be removed because they grow too large or not large enough for the position you've chosen.
Creating an attractive and professional looking landscape for your new home doesn't need to break the bank. With some time, hard work and by applying the above tips, you'll have a stunning outdoor area that you can be proud of.
