Summary: Landscaping on a budget does not mean cheap landscaping or ugly garden designs, it means managing landscape cost and usually means taking more time to complete the patio, driveway, frontyard and backyard landscaping plans, but a tight budget makes the do it yourself landscaper put in the work for greater satisfaction.
Money isn’t everything as far as landscape gardening is concerned, landscaping on a budget does not stop good landscape design. In fact, Marion’s of Charlotte, North Carolina, decided money would have very little to do with limiting their gardening and landscape program. They made this resolution when confronted by their 62 X 165-foot lot – a rugged, sloping wilderness of underbrush and poison ivy which challenged their vision and determination.
Even through the impenetrable forest, the young couple saw possibilities of a terraced garden, a patio and a pretty Cape Cod house. They made plans of the house and sketches of grounds and garden, keeping each phase within a limited budget, and then rolled up their sleeves and went to work!
Tree Removal With Detail
First of all, more than 100 trees had to be taken out, but this was done with caution. Judiciously, weaker trees were removed, leaving a number of favorite and shapely varieties for a picturesque effect. Stumps were not left in the ground to invite termites – usually a neglected detail in clearing off a home property.
Grading and erosion presented few problems because their plans began with a raised bed near the house where this little bed, supported by an abundance of rocks found on the lot, was filled with bright flowers to view from a kitchen window. Among them were grown tree roses, Japanese iris, year-around bulbs in variety, pyrethrum, shasta daisies and for cascading, Phlox sulrulata, arable and Nepeta mussini.
This bed merges with sweeping borders, which dart in and out of shade and sun, following the contour of the lot. These gracefully curving borders measure from 3 to 5 feet in diameter and are supported by a handsome brick retaining wall.
No visitor would guess that originally the beds were filled with heavy sticky red clay soil with poor drainage qualities which would not grow plants. The thoughtful young homeowners had rescued topsoil and leafmold before grading, and they combined this with several loads of sand to make a black loamy soil for azaleas, boxwood, camellias, fibrous-rooted and tuberous begonias and other plants. Several years were required in planting borders because many of the flowering and evergreen shrubs, serving as a background, were made from cuttings, or from small plants naturalized from wooded areas.
Coralbells (lieuchera). and white lilies are combined in shady corners near a multitude of azaleas, each made from cuttings. Clumps of home-grown primulas and English daisies make interesting edgings for shady nooks.
In sunny portions are exotic displays of moss roses, Canterbury bells, foxglove, sweet William, delphinium and other colorful flowers, with lower accents of wallflower, columbine, pyrethrum, silene, hardy candy tuft and Pixie roses, all grown from- cuttings or seed.
Following Strict Landscape Budget = Do It Yourself
The strict garden budget prevented hiring a crew of brick masons, so together the Marion’s built the brick retaining wall for the borders during Don Marion’s off hours from work and on weekends. It measures 70 feet long and 28 inches high and is centered by six steps, six feet wide with treads the thickness of one brick. The total cost of the wall with cement footing was only $475.00! (They purchased used brick!)
Flagstone Patio
Next came the flagstone patio, likewise designed and built by the energetic couple. It was laid out under spreading trees, serving as a focal point from wide windows in the house. Their outdoor living-room with flagstones permanently laid in concrete is 355 feet square—cost $380.00 completed. A solar poweres lamp post of Early American design was a gift from friends for patio illumination.
Stretching Landscaping Budget – Growing Their Own Flowers
Since the Marion’s grow all the flowers from seed in flats or coldframes, and propagate shrubbery by cuttings, they wanted an appropriate, hidden work spot which would not interfere with the garden views from the house. They selected a sunny, protected location at the rear of the property which is completely screened by evergreen shrubbery and trees. Here three cold frames, measuring 3 X 6 feet, were constructed using lumber of extra thickness. Tops are made of plastic material, but these are used only in the coldest weather.
Fourteen seed flats are in constant use. The cost of flats is negligible for they come from a local nursery who sold them cheap. Each flat is 4 inches deep, and usually 14 to 16 inches wide and 22 to 24 inches long. The flats are then filled with pieces of broken pots or gravel to allow for adequate drainage.
The boxes require the following materials for planting with enough left over to be mixed with the soil in the coldframes: four buckets of sand, two bags of vermiculite, and three bags of leafmold. Equal parts of each of these are used in seed boxes.
Growing Season Begins
The Marion’s seeding program begins in earnest in March when lettuce and endive are sown in the coldframe. Thinned seedlings are used in salads and others left to develop more fully. Seeds of Phlox drummondi, nierembergia, alyssum in variety, snapdragon, scabiosa and calendula are also sown.
In April and May, after the plants from March sowings have been removed, seeds of annuals are sown. Among these are tithonia, petunias, asters, dwarf Mignon dahlias. salvia (scarlet sage), purple candytuft. celosia, verbena, zinnias and marigolds.
July and August buzz with activity when fall seed sowing in flats gets under way! Perennials of all types are planted, with many new names appearing annually on the list. But here are some of the favorite varieties in the Slaughter garden: pansies, lupine, columbine, delphinium, Rudbeckia purpurea, foxglove hybrids, Cerastium tomentosum, lberis sempervirens, Alyssum saxatile, pinks, sweet William and salvia.
Cuttings play an important rule in this garden where vigorous and fast-growing azaleas predominate in shady locations. In July, 4-inch cuttings are made and each is dipped in a rooting hormone powder before it is set in flats filled with equal parts of vermiculite, sand and peatmoss. The soil is kept moist but never soggy and watering depends on the weather. All but several tip leaves are stripped off when the cuttings are made.
In early fall the cuttings are removed to a semishaded coldframe containing a generous amount of leafmold. Moisture is applied throughout the summer months. The following fall, the cuttings are planted in permanent beds containg an abundance of leafmold, peatmoss and sand. The Marion’s have handsome specimens of azaleas grown in this manner.
One of the successful and interesting experiments was made when Julie Marion salvaged scales of regale lilies that fell from the bulbs during transportation. The scales, which were planted on their sides, grew for one year in a flat filled with vermiculite and sand. Later they were planted in beds where giant blooms developed the second year.
The Marion’s dedication of time and effort in developing a beautification program – maximum beauty at minimum cost – has not been easy sailing all the way. But it is rewarding and satisfying to overcome so many obstacles. Best of all, the young couple succeeded in bringing their enclosed garden and well landscaped grounds into the heart of their home. What’s more – they’ve had fun doing it!
by C Harris
