small area

I live in a small apartment and don't really have my own yard just a small patio and a walkway. What can  I do to spruce it up on a very tight budget ? I am thinking about those lights for the ground, and just a few flowers. I like to get a 2 tier stand but what else ?

Dejolane, go to some flea markets or yard sales and you might find some really nice plant stands fairly cheaply. If you're good/crafty and the stands need a bit of work, meaning paint, do the work yourself. Sand them down to get rid of the rust, use a can of spray paint to paint them and you could have some really nice plant containers or stands at a good price. At the end of the summer, you can store them inside and then you can re-use them the following years.

Same with outdoor chairs and such. Sometimes you can find things like this at flea markets or yard sales.  Bring them home and spruce them up a bit. If you find some webbed lawn chairs at a cheap price, buy them....if they're in good shape. If all they need is new webbing, you can get that and you can re-web the chairs yourself. It's not hard at all.

You can always get a couple packets of marigold or zinnia seeds and plant them for gorgeous color throughout the summer. Yes, you'll have to replant them the next year from new seeds, but a packet of seeds isn't that expensive. If you don't have a yard, plant the seeds in pots and stick the pots on your plant stands....they could be really pretty. Place some pots by your front door, too.

I know you've mentioned before that you do enjoy hitting the yard sales....sometimes you can find some really nice things at a yard sale that don't cost a small fortune. And you can fix them up yourself.

dejolane said:

I live in a small apartment and don't really have my own yard just a small patio and a walkway. What can  I do to spruce it up on a very tight budget ? I am thinking about those lights for the ground, and just a few flowers. I like to get a 2 tier stand but what else ?

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Hi Debbie    lt might help if you post a picture of your area so we can see the shape of it, if it's sunny/shaded, walled, fenced, treed, open, paved, grassed, etc. etc.

l have a postage stamp sized backyard and l'm just finishing my "overhaul". l'll post before and after pix once it's done.

l like Winchester's idea about the yard sales for chairs. l reluctantly accepted a bistro set from someone who didn't want it. lt was green metal and glass, and was ugly! l removed the ugly cushions and spray painted the metal chairs and table gloss-black. lt looks really, really good, l'm very happy with it.

There are some nice pictures of small space container gardens on Google. 

Plant stands were the first thing to come to mind.  I've seen some really beautiful solar lights and decorations on clearance recently too.  I found some beautiful herb markers and a stained glass hummingbird on a long stake at Target on clearance.  I added those to my potted herbs and it's pretty!  You can also find some neat things at the Dollar Store.  But I would look soon because stores are already pulling out the back to school stuff.  But that also means sales!!  I've seen some solar butterflies that I'm hoping to find on clearance.  They were in different colors.  I saw a picture of a friend's yard with them and they look really pretty even from a distance!

My Grandmother once took a pair of my cousin's old work boots; the steel toed kind, that were just ready to die and she spray painted them a real lacquered red (it might have taken 2 paints, red and then the clear gloss).  She had 2 potted flowers that she put in them; one in each shoe and then she arranged it on her front steps like someone had left their shoes there and flowers grew out.  I wish I had a picture; but this was pre-digital days.  It was really nice and nearly made from things they already had!

Andrya said:

Hi Debbie 

  lt might help if you post a picture of your area so we can see the shape of it, if it's sunny/shaded, walled, fenced, treed, open, paved, grassed, etc. etc.

l have a postage stamp sized backyard and l'm just finishing my "overhaul". l'll post before and after pix once it's done.

l like Winchester's idea about the yard sales for chairs. l reluctantly accepted a bistro set from someone who didn't want it. lt was green metal and glass, and was ugly! l removed the ugly cushions and spray painted the metal chairs and table gloss-black. lt looks really, really good, l'm very happy with it.

There are some nice pictures of small space container gardens on Google. 

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I live in a 4 square apartment building and a yard on either side of a walkway. I have a sliding glass door on to a covered patio with a few patio chairs and thats all.

Do you have any grass at all?  I have a shepards hook with 3 tiers that I hang 2 potted plants and a small bird feeder off.  It brings color under my tree.  The problem with the bird feeder is the sprouting seeds in my plants!  This was when I first potted them this year.  The ones on the left have filled in nicely; the ones on the right are mostly brown...heat damage I think...  My mother-in-law has something similar that attaches to the raining on her deck.  So there may be options for you.  It just might take some shopping and sale watching!

nice yard. I really don't have my own yard.One large yard that the whole apartments complex shares and we each have our own little patio.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but l thought l had posted my "landscaping" pics earlier, and realize now that l didn't.

This year l wanted to do something with my postage-stamp sized back yard. lt was flat, and it was grass, and it was boring.

Also. l have a little dog who l wanted to be able to let come outside with me while not being leashed, so l wanted the area safely fenced.

Here's the step-by-step transformation from spring until late summer:

BEFORE     This shot was taken from the second floor patio door

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Step 2, installing the patio stones at the current grade

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Step 3, tearing up the grass, marking off the utilities, regrading, and sinking fence spikes and posts

View media item 182709
AFTER

View media item 182710
View media item 182711
The far end has trellis and a gate across now so the dog is enclosed. We had to leave an easement at the end for the mid-block neighbours.

Wow Andrya, that looks terrific, I LOVE it. What a sweet little backyard, hope you and your dog are enjoying it!

Wow how cute!!  You've really done a lot with a little space!!

Oh my, what an improvement!  Doesn't it make you feel great?

Andrya said:

Step 2, installing the patio stones at the current grade

View media item 182708
Step 3, tearing up the grass, marking off the utilities, regrading, and sinking fence spikes and posts

View media item 182709
AFTER

View media item 182710
View media item 182711
The far end has trellis and a gate across now so the dog is enclosed. We had to leave an easement at the end for the mid-block neighbours.

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very nice Did it cost much ?

Thank you everyone 

lt's so much nicer to go out there now, although the shed takes up most of the small space 

@dejolane:  my landlord paid for the materials, fencing, hardware, patio stones/gravel/sand/fabric etc. l think it cost him about $600.

l bought the shrubs, plants, shed (movable), grass seed, and wood stain (which isn't in the pictures). So not that much at all.

Andrya said:

 
Thank you everyone 

lt's so much nicer to go out there now, although the shed takes up most of the small space 

@dejolane:  my landlord paid for the materials, fencing, hardware, patio stones/gravel/sand/fabric etc. l think it cost him about $600.

l bought the shrubs, plants, shed (movable), grass seed, and wood stain (which isn't in the pictures). So not that much at all.

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you must have a fantastic landlord to do this for you.