Garden Patio Ideas on a Budget

What does your dream patio look like? A hot tub to take the edge off a hard day? A Love Island-esque fire pit for slow-burning summer evenings? An outdoor swimming pool, perhaps?

Fantastic, yes. But do you have the means to afford it? Maybe not.

Not to worry. There are plenty of easy ways to achieve an expensive look that are both Pinterest-worthy and within your budget.

Follow our favourite cheap patio ideas, below, to enjoy a beautiful garden that looks a million dollars.

For green gardens

Planning a new patio but don’t want to pave over every inch of greenery? Relax, you don’t have to.

Leaving a bit of grass is ideal for clean, contemporary – and cosy – green spaces. Plus, you’ll shave off a few ££ from your patio laying costs.

To achieve a truly flawless budget grass/patio garden, we advise focusing on partitions. For instance, grass thrives in sunlight, so you’ll want to place your grassy patch in the prime sunbathing spots ready for summer.

As for your pavers, it’s a good idea to set up your granite or limestone pavers in a shaded corner - you’ll be thankful you did when BBQ season arrives and you’re flipping burgers in the baking heat.

For larger patios

Your space might be large, but your budget is not. So, what do you do? You think practically.

For instance, do you really need to pave all the way to the periphery? If you don’t, you could fill the edges with vibrant flowerbeds or neaten your border with stylish edging instead.

And as for those ‘must-have’ extras – do you really need them to complete your patio? A fire pit and fountain might look fancy, but if you don’t have enough budget to buy high-quality pavers (the most important part), then you’ll be repairing your patio before you know it.

To remain practical with your artistic vision, draw the eye through simple, but stunning, paving patterns. We recommend using block paving, paving circles or setts to create circles, spirals and diamond patio shapes for a fraction of the cost of a top-end garden feature.

For smaller patios

You need acres and acres of space to achieve the patio of your dreams, right? Wrong. In fact, it’s quite an exciting opportunity to show off your paving prowess.

For example, the much-coveted Yorkstone look may prove too costly for your parent’s garden – but, for your pint-sized patio, it’s perfect. For small-scale traditional settings, we recommend the rustic, timeworn look of our Old Town pavers which come complete with tooling marks and weathered edges.

Then, if you want to enhance the rustic look in your limited space, go one step further and plant a vertical garden. Don’t worry, these eye-catching upright gardens are no tall order – all you need to do is glue or hang plant pots on your garden wall to enjoy a blossoming green space that won’t swallow your pretty patio.

More money-saving tips

Big or small, modern or traditional; there are plenty of ways to save money on your next patio project.

A winding garden path, for instance, might feel like a big job if you’re planning on building a garden path by yourself, but a cheaper and more convenient option might be to bed large stepping stones in gravel instead. Not only do they bring a country cottage charm, but your young ones will certainly enjoy hopping from stone to stone in the warm sunshine.

And don’t forget to be savvy with your statement pavers. The seldom-seen areas of your garden, such as your bin station, don’t need anything fancy – they just need to be functional. That’s where value pavers will be your best friend.

But our most important tip of all? Plan properly and think long-term. Scope out your garden to see which areas are most valuable (i.e. the most visible portions) and tailor your expenses around them. After all, a patio is for life, not just for summer.

Now you know how to achieve a professional patio on a budget, it’s time to find the right patio slabs for the job. For our full collection, or for more advice about cheap patio ideas you need to try, get in touch with the Simply Paving team today.