Investing in the garden is something which many homeowners just don’t consider until the sun is shining, especially up here in Alberta, Canada. in fact the joke is that you spend all summer planning and saving up for the renovation, then the winter comes and you forget all about it until next summer. I was in this boat 2 years ago, I went to a lender and was just about to sign to the fraud protection and interest rates off, when I met a neighbor and friend of mine Travis Cadman. Travis is a wonderful gardener and spoke to me about how easy it would be to clean the garden up myself, with some neighborly help. I decided to do it and I love how the garden looks, and here is why I’d recommend doing a DIY job in your garden.
Value
In Canada and the USA people love homes with a garden and this can significantly boost the value of your home. Now even if I had invested a lot of money into my garden this would have been the case and so the fact that I did it on a DIY budget means that I am likely to be in profit in terms of spend vs value added.
Pride
Make no mistake there is a very real sense of pride which you feel when you have completed a job like this with your own bare hands, and the novelty really doesn’t wear off. Every morning I open up my bedroom curtains and I am greeted by this beautiful garden which I know that I completed, albeit with the help of a very kind neighbor. A beautiful garden is a wonderful thing to have yet knowing that you did it adds something truly special.
Project
Renovating your garden will not happen overnight of course and this means that you will have a long term project to work on. I cant remember a time since I left school that I have had such a project to work on over a long period of time and I absolutely loved it. I used to relish leaving work on an evening so that I could put some hours in working on the garden and it just gives you something which really focuses you.
Your Own Style
Unless you are prepared to pay big bucks most garden renovations will look pretty similar and they will come straight from a catalogue of design ideas. When you do it on your own you can make it look however you please, and even the mistakes and miscalculations make for a unique garden space which you will love. I loved this freedom to design in my own way and the result has been a garden which you won’t see anywhere else.
If you are going to DIY then go big and give your garden the makeover which it deserves.
