A beautiful garden does not need a big budget. Old tires, pallets, wine bottles, stones and even a broken chair can become planters, paths and decorations with a weekend of work. This guide collects our best DIY garden ideas, from easy projects for beginners to planters, paths, water features and decorations that give your garden personality.
Start here: easy projects and small gardens
- DIY garden projects for beginners: 15 weekend ideas, including vertical gardens
- Unique DIY garden crafts for beginners: can planters, bag gardens and a boot birdhouse
- Tips for decorating a small back garden: light fabrics, mirrors, lighting and a focal point
- Creative small yard designs: flowers, outdoor furniture and gazebos
- Garden landscape design ideas: functional designs and small gardens
- Garden decor ideas to refresh its look: recycling, planters, flower beds and seating
DIY planters and containers
- Attractive DIY flower planters: a dresser garden, bottle flowers and a kettle planter
- Cute repurposed planters: boots, birdbaths, carts, tires and gas cans
- Creative container gardening ideas: shoe, birdcage, toolbox and grill planters
- Old objects as gorgeous flower pots: a tool box, rusty tub, wheelbarrow and tires
- DIY flower pots for a garden paradise: pinecone baskets, teapots and painted tires
- Easy DIY terracotta clay pots: clay pot critters, wreaths and a fairy garden
- Bicycle flower planter designs
- Ways to recycle tires in your garden: planters, decorations and furniture
- Repurposing old tires in the garden: parrots, swans and peacocks
Vertical, hanging and raised gardens
- Ways to organise your vertical garden: shelves, pallet holders and hanging terracotta
- DIY hanging flower baskets: colanders, lamp shades and burlap
- A cinder block raised bed
- Raised garden bed kits you can easily assemble
Paths, stones and mosaics
- DIY garden paths: stenciled stepping stones, painted pavers and pebble mosaics
- Why you should add stepping stones to your garden
- DIY mosaic garden decorations: flower pots, tabletops, stairways and stepping stones
- Outdoor mosaic ideas
- Painted rocks for your garden
- Gardens decorated with pebbles
Water features
- DIY water feature projects: a backyard pond, concrete fountain and bubble fountain
- DIY fountains for your garden
Garden decorations
- Colorful DIY garden decorations: painted flower beds, tires and shutters
- Tips to decorate a vintage garden: old doors, windows, ladders and teapots
- Butterfly-inspired garden decorations
- DIY wind chimes: colorful, glass cube and canning lid chimes
- DIY birdhouses for your garden
- DIY plant markers: beads, lids, ice cream sticks and polymer clay
- Bamboo garden decorations: fountains, edging and fencing
- Rustic log decorating ideas: log paths, feeders and benches
- How to repurpose an old door in the garden: a porch swing, divider and herb planter
- Garden ideas with old wine bottles: planters, bird feeders and a bottle tree
- Garden decorations from old kids’ toys
- Concrete garden decorations: orbs, pumpkins, planters and a fountain
Frequently asked questions
What are cheap ways to decorate a garden?
Reuse what you have: paint old tires and pots, turn pallets into planters and furniture, collect stones for paths and borders, and grow plants from seeds and cuttings rather than buying mature plants.
Planning the rest of your outdoor space? See our backyard ideas and our gardening tips for beginners.