Let me start by saying I have lost track of how much money I have spend on the garden, past and current. My original idea of having a productive garden that saves money is certainly not a reality. But in our new home, the garden needs more than just a new garden bed or a few new plants. It needs a full makeover.
As I mentioned in a previous post, termites literally ate away $4K of our garden fund, as well as leaving monitors all around the house. As we stand now, that $4K would have been a nice start, but there is so much more to be done which needs more money than I am willing to put into the garden. Meanwhile, we are left with dirt patches, unfinished projects, unrealised dreams and a frustrating reality that there is less money coming in than we need to get it all done in a happy time frame. To have it all done in no less than 10 years would be a miracle.
So, with that all in mind, hubby and I have set out to do our gardening on the cheap… or as hubby likes to say, we’re being “thrifty”. Its probably a good mentality to have when it comes to the garden anyway, as ultimately, a garden just needs to have a lovely feel, and that can be done with or without thousands of dollars.
Our first point of thrift has been that where-ever simple man power will do the job, then we will do it ourselves. It is so tempting just to pay someone ludicrous amounts to do something in a tenth of the time simply because we are too lazy or time-pressed. As a young family with 3 kids, we are extremely time-pressed, and the thought that we would be putting in 100% of the man power is a little daunting, however I have discovered that our kids actually love digging in the dirt, to grab shovels, look for bugs and play in the displaced grass. It also doesn’t hurt for them to see us putting in the hard work to get it done. Yes, I’m patting myself on the back for being a good role model!
Our next area of thrifty-ness was where we were going to source the essentials that would make up our hard scape. There is no running away from it, hard scape resources are EX-PEN-SIVE! I was looking at at least $1000 alone for pavers that would replace our dirt patch. And that’s only a guess. We were in the process of looking for some second hand pavers when a friend of our said that they had a pile of them they were trying to get rid of… and all in the colour I was hoping for! Score!
Free pavers AND free man power… hubby placing some of the pavers at the bottom of the stairs.
Who says that doing all the man power means the kiddies get ignored? Exposed dirt make great tracks for monster trucks!
Even my daughter got involved, getting her doll to jump off the pavers. Fun for all the family!
The pavers were placed beneath the stairs we had installed in 3 different parts of the deck, as well as covering that foot dirtying dirt patch between the deck and the garden bed.
Speaking of the garden bed, it is in the process of being dismantled as planned. Due to its complete incompetence at creating anything edible, it was decided that the wood could be better used elsewhere, the dirt could help create another garden bed, and the space could be paved over to create a hard scape where the kids can play. 
The paving is well on its way, as is the dismantling of the garden bed.
The wood, it was decided, would be used to make a sandpit for the kids. Sandpits have always been a hit with our kids, but somehow, at the new place, we couldn’t seem to find the right place for it, or it was always getting flooded by the rain, or filled with leaves, dirt or insects.
Making a sandpit had always been the plan, but placing it was another problem. It seems there are not many sandpit friendly places in our new garden (why wasn’t this a criteria when we bought it!?!) As a consequence, I have spent a lot of brain power (more than a sandpit would usually require I bet) considering the best place for the pit to go. Finally, my “aha” moment came when considering the slight predicament of a finite number of pavers. Perhaps I could leave a gap in the paving next to the deck where my planned sandpit can go? And so, voila, momentum began to build, pavers were placed around the border, garden bed was dismantled and 2 hours on a Saturday later, my sandpit was built.
The sandpit being enjoyed by my son… although, we are still missing one key ingredient…. sand.
So far, we have saved a fair chunk of money, although it is a drop in the ocean really. Sandpits, pavers, man power. This is just the beginning.
Confessions of a Brown Thumb 
Some advice that a gardener gave me when I wanted to start my garden was that “no garden should be without a compost area”. How true and cheap! Better yet its Free! Compost will help amend your soil among tons of other things. You say your budgeting well compost is your black gold. Happy gardening!
Thanks! We have a compost tumbler, compost pile and worm farm. Neither the wirms or the compost have been well utilised yet but I am hoping for some lovely black gold soon. The worm tea is great on the plants…. when they get planted!