Money saving tips starting in your back yard Keeping your yard green and groomed can be quite the costly task. As with most tasks, a little bit of planning can lead to significant savings without sacrificing the quality of your yard.

Before you can save money you need to identify the purpose and goals of your yard. How do you want to use your yard? Do you want your lawn to just be a place for the kids and dog to play? Or are you trying to win awards, stand out to your Los Angeles neighbors, and are exemplify that botanical garden look? That decision determines your true path and how much money you’ll end up spending.

Regardless of what path you choose, there are various ways you can save money on landscaping:

1. Compost

Compost is the cream of the crop in money-saving landscaping tips.

It’s one of the best things you can use in a garden or lawn. Take your banana peels, apple cores, and other food scraps and throw them in a pile (or in a composting device). Add a little bit of water, and wait. The result is what many landscapers call black gold due to the variety of uses for the product.

You can use compost as a soil amendment instead of packaged top soil from the local garden center. You can put a few inches of compost down as mulch instead of buying bagged pine mulch. You can even sprinkle compost over your lawn and let it soak in and break down over time. Your lawn should look healthier as time goes on and you’ll save a ton of money. Tip: Grow your own garden to save money on produce.

2. Use Plants Native to Your Region

You make your gardening life more difficult when you attempt to landscape with plants that are foreign to your region of the country. They may look great – but they are not easy to upkeep.

Not sure which plants are native and which are foreign? As with the fertilizer, it helps to know a local resource that can guide your choices. Ask around at your local gardening store or to a green thumb neighbor.

Plus, by shopping at local small businesses, you support your community. That’s better than sending your dollars to a faceless mega corporation based in some other state.

3. Repair and Repaint Fencing before Replacing

Instead of replacing giant sections of fence, be smart and simply took some screws and a power drill and pushed the bent boards back in to place. Instead of ignoring the problem due to expense, find a frugal solution.

The same can be said for a fence with faded paint. If at least some of the wood is in good condition, don’t tear everything down and start over. That’s very expensive. Instead get some paint brushes and outdoor paint, and go to town. A fresh coat of paint can make an old fence look brand new and even add some protection.

Do you have any awesome money-saving landscaping tips to add to these ideas?