Grandmother Turns ‘Jungle’ Garden Into Haven With FREE Marketplace Finds
- Tracy, 70, was faced with a ‘neglected, overgrown jungle’ of a garden
- She has transformed the space by picking up free Marketplace bargains
- Deals include FREE marble tiles which originally cost £150
- She also got outdoor grout for £8 instead of £30 by shopping smartly
Gardens can easily become overgrown if they aren’t maintained properly, and if you don’t want to spend a lot of time caring for greenery that tends to grow quickly then it’s easy for your space to get out of control.
One grandmother of three was faced with this situation when she moved into a property which had a garden in need of some serious TLC. Instead of paying out for a professional, she got to work transforming the space herself, picking up some impressive bargains on Marketplace along the way.
Tracy Burke, 70 from Botley who has three grandchildren aged 26, 25 and 24, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I knew I wouldn't be able to live with the mess the garden was in when I moved into the property. It was a neglected, overgrown jungle.
‘My inspiration came from wanting a Mediterranean style, easy to maintain garden. I suffer with various health conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia so as a consequence I cannot bend or kneel easily. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to turn the garden into an easy ‘no weed’ place.
‘A lot of work came from clearing the garden itself. There was just so much growth and weeds to sort out and this took a long time. The flower beds were so heavily overgrown with weeds, bushes, stones and tree roots that it wasn't possible to plant anything.
‘My only option was to cut everything down to the ground and dig it out - my son helped with the pick axing.
‘I then covered the ground to suppress the weeds and bought two tons of 20mm shingle. This cost £100 plus a £25 delivery charge.
‘Once I had the shingle down I bought young plants - they are much cheaper that way. I potted them up and waited for them to grow.
‘Most days I scour Facebook Marketplace for cheap or free items, so most of the major supplies were free.
‘The light grey marble tiles laid on the old concrete path slabs running down the middle of the garden were free on Marketplace. I was told they originally cost £150 for the 32 tiles and were made by Porcelenosa - which is a very expensive make!
‘I found the outdoor brush-in grout on Marketplace for £8, and the normal price is about £30.
‘Incredibly I was lucky enough to find three identical marble fire surrounds on Marketplace completely free of charge. Obviously I couldn't lift them as they are extremely heavy so I asked each seller to smash them up so I could easily transport them. I then painstakingly fitted all the pieces of marble like a jigsaw onto the concrete path.
‘I managed to save some of the grasses growing in the garden and mixed them in with geraniums, agapanthus and other flowers that look quite Mediterranean. I was given the bricks surrounding the paths and flower beds for free by a neighbour.
‘I painted all the fences using supplies I already had. This part of the project was a nightmare due to the very hot and sunny weather we had recently. I was melting while doing it!
‘I have been working on the garden for a year and a half now on a budget and it’s gone from a wild jungle to a calm, colourful space. I am not quite finished yet but it’s now a place I can go out and relax in, and I am proud of the fact I did it all myself.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Tracy has put a lot of work into this garden and you can see what a difference it has made. She should be really proud of this space as it looks so much better than when she first moved in.’
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