Woman transforms garden on a budget and it looks amazing
- Becca Menzies, 44, overhauled an area of scrub land to turn it into a chic garden
- Becca used cheap items like plants from ebay and wood sourced from sawmills
- The garden looks unrecognisable
If your outdoor space is looking a bit worse for wear, take inspiration from this incredible garden transformation.
Becca Menzies, 44, a full time mum of three kids from Sussex, took over an area of scrub land and totally transformed the space from a dull area into a pristine garden.
Becca kept the cost of the project to a minimum, spending around £1,300 and using old materials and products ordered cheaply online to keep prices down.
Becca told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "It was just an area of scrub land previously so it had to be done. We wanted a garden that offered some privacy as our front garden is next to the road.
"I started by clearing the weeds which were three feet high across the whole area. I strimmed then I mowed.
"I built my flower beds around the edges first, digging out and turning over, adding soil and planting up my flowers and shrubs. I then rotavated the L shape around the outside which were to be my pathways.
"Once rotavated and levelled, I hammered in the edging for the plant borders and around the edge of where my lawn would go. I slowly shifted the four ton of stones to fill in the paths. Then came rotavating and levelling the area for turfing.
"This took me days and with a really rough area and only a cheap rotavator it was a labour of love. Once done I then raced to lay the turf as it was drying out in the extreme heat of last summer! Once laid, the turf needed to be watered regularly.
"I then began fencing the area I had decided would be for my chickens. I did this by knocking in the posts and then adding the rails and chicken wire and hung my gate.
"The chicken sign I made with a wood burning tool (it was just £20 from Amazon). I then used old hanging basket chain to link the three plaques together and hang.
"The small decked area was the last part to complete and my husband did that bit. We then erected our pool, then it was cue the wine and time to relax!”
The materials were sourced by Becca as cheaply as possible, using logs to create furniture and buying a rotavator for just £40.
"I used a cheap £40 rotavator - that was the hard part. I literally started at the left and worked my way across,” Becca explains.
"I made a table using logs from the wood burner for legs, then just off cuts from other wood I used from the garden.
"All wood was sourced from saw mills as cheap as possible. Four tons of 20m stones went into the pathways - they cost £30 a ton.
"The log store I made completely myself using the timber I had left - the hardest part was not having anyone to hold the other end of the wood!
“All the plants I bought from ebay or for cheap online and were brought on in a tiny grow house before planting.
"I did most of this over a three week period while my hubby was away working and it almost killed me!
"The chicken area I just fenced with the cheapest timber I could source from the sawmill, and the fencing is also as cheap as possible.
"We also reused the stone from the wall we knocked through to build a step into the garden, and I upcycled our old chicken shed and made a new one using the old door and roof."
Becca is delighted with how her project turned out, and said the hard work made her fall in love with the garden even more.
"I feel relieved it’s done, and I’m so delighted with how it turned out. Making something from scratch and investing your blood and tears is so much more rewarding than simply inheriting a garden,” she said.
"It’s so private and a lovely space for the children. I’m planning on making a little castle for my daughter this summer, besides enjoying a glass of wine while the sun goes down and plenty of dips in our little pool on hot summer days!
"My greatest pleasure is watching my plants grow, from the tiny twigs and cuttings I purchased to these magnificent blooms and shrubs that stand just a year on.
"If you’re prepared to put in the hard work, you don’t need expensive heavy equipment! I could have hired a rotavator for a weekend at £200 but I persevered with my little £40 job and although it took twice the work and twice the time, I was able to achieve the results you see.
"Also, shrubs and flowers are ludicrously expensive at garden centres. Hunt around! Facebook Marketplace often has nurseries that will deliver in bulk for a fraction of the price. Ebay too is an excellent place to buy bulk offers of mixed plants. Just a small grow house is all you need to bring them on.
"Sawmills are a great source for cheap wood - just ring around and get quotes for the cheapest prices. Making furniture or chicken houses or log stores yourself can save hundreds of pounds! Regarding fencing, if you’re doing it yourself, dig deep for your supporting posts!"
Becca’s shopping list:
£150 plants
£120 stones for paths
£50 fabric to stop weeds on path
£50 edging for plant borders and lawn
£100 slabs
£350 fencing
£60 stain
£100 gates
£50 fixings
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, says: “If you haven’t had much gardening or DIY experience, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to overhauling your garden, but Becca’s garden’s incredible transformation just proves that you can do an outdoor renovation all by yourself, and it needn’t cost the earth! I recommend YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram for DIY tutorials and inspiration.”
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