If you’re looking for an affordable but gorgeous plan for your garden, this budget-friendly border shows off all summer and is easy to maintain year after year.
This easy-care garden bed won't break the budget!
Here’s a budget-friendly plan that’ll fill a bare spot and expand across the length of a slope if you like. This planting grows best in full sun to part shade. With minimal maintenance requirements on your part, it’s perfectly suited for upping your curb appeal — looking good always without any any extra work from you. So what makes it budget-friendly? Let’s take a look.
Four tips to establish this budget-friendly border:
A lot of big plants come with an even bigger price tag, but the large plants here, the elderberry and hosta, are easy to find inexpensively at a local garden center or home improvement store.
You could purchase the perennial blackberry lily and geum as plants, but these varieties are easy to start from seed, so no worries about breaking the bank with large perennial purchases.
It’s likely that after the first spring, you won’t have to plant the nicotiana again, as it reseeds well. You’ll just need to pull seedlings from where they don’t belong, and possibly transplant them where they do.
Save a few seeds of the black-eyed Susan vine every year (but know the color will vary). You’ll likely need to start them indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost, but it’s an easy way to get more plants at such a low cost.
Check out the lettered plan above and see the corresponding plant information in the slideshow below to learn more about this budget-friendly garden.
A
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra porphyrophylla Black Lace™)
Type Shrub Blooms Pale pink blooms in early summer, nearly black dissected foliage, red fall berries Light Full sun to part shade Size 6 to 8 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
B
Blackberry lily (Iris domestica ‘Freckle Face’)
Type Perennial Blooms Orange late-summer flowers followed by seed pods that resemble blackberries Light Full sun to part shade Size 18 to 24 in. tall, 8 to 12 in. wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10
C
Hosta (Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’)
Type Perennial Blooms Lavender blooms in late summer, large gold-green leaves Light Full sun to part shade Size 2 to 3 ft. tall, 3 to 5 ft. wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
D
Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata ‘Spanish Eyes’)
Type Tender vine Blooms Apricot and gold blooms with dark centers all summer Light Full sun to part shade Size 5 to 6 ft. tall, spreading Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 10 to 12
E
Nicotiana (Nicotiana alata ‘Lime Green’)
Type Tender perennial Blooms Reblooming green flowers starting in early summer
Light Full sun to part shade Size 30 to 36 in. tall, 24 to 30 in. wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 10 to 12
F
Geum (Geum ‘Blazing Sunset’)
Type Perennial Blooms Double red blooms in late spring to midsummer Light Full sun to part shade Size 24 to 30 in. tall, 12 to 18 in. wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
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