Luxe Landscaping For Less

With the weather warming up, it’s time to pack away the blankets, unplug the heaters, swap those ugg boots for thongs – and get outside.

In Australia, the warmer months are perfect for outdoor entertaining; which is why all so many Thrive Homes are designed with alfresco areas and open plan living spaces that blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors.

So if you’ve neglected your yard for the last few months or if things could just do with a bit of a lift; here are some super easy ways to give your landscaping a little love – for less.

Free Plants!

Plants can turn a block of land into a wonderland, but they are also rarely cheap.

However, most Australian councils now offer free native plants as a way of discouraging people from planting introduced species. So give a few of your local councils a quick Google to see when and where your next plant giveaway is.

Our tip is to get there early - before everyone has taken the good stuff.   

Rock some rockery

Whether you just want to liven up that corner of the yard that doesn’t get enough sun; or you want to save money on watering your garden - then you can’t go past rockery.

To keep costs down, just keep an eye on sites like Gumtree and eBay for bush rocks. As they cost money to get rid of, you’ll always find people offering free pick up on loads of sandstone and granite. Just give them a quick scrub and plant some native grasses (hopefully from a free giveaway), and voila – you’ve got a free feature rockery.

Make Your Own Pots and Planters

You know those funky, marbled pots that are gracing the pages of every home style magazine? They look stunning, but they’ll set you back a week’s worth of groceries if you buy them from a fancy garden store.

Luckily, there are plenty of blogs that show you can make your own for less than the cost of a pub lunch.

Plant Up with Pallets

If you’ve just moved into one of our Thrive home designs, then you’ll probably have more outdoor space than you know what to do with!

However, for those of you with smaller gardens, make the most of your outdoor space by planting up your walls and fences.

Purpose-built wall planters can set you back more than it’s worth, but you can build your own with little more than a few, found pallets. Find out how here.

Beautify Those Benches

Outdoor furniture can really make or break an outdoor space. So if benches are looking a little busted, then now’s a perfect time to re-sand and re-oil them.

Of course, by the time to cough up for sander hire and some new outdoor oil, and find the time to do it all, you’ll quickly realise why everyone’s outdoor furniture always looks so haggard.

However, there are cheap options out there, like Temple and Webster’s Furniture Reviver Oil which is super easy to use.