7 DIY Garden Ideas for a Beautiful Backyard Makeover

Whether you're just getting started with gardening at home or you're looking for ways to spruce up what you already have, try some DIY garden ideas! They're not just fun projects—they're also a way to turn something old into something new to keep waste out of landfills.

By upcycling what you already have instead of throwing things away, you can turn old items into decor for your garden or yard. You can also recycle items that would normally end up in the trash.

The best part is you can turn any piece of trash into treasure, from old metal watering cans to bicycle wheels! Check out these DIY garden ideas to spruce up your backyard.

7 DIY Garden Ideas to Spice Up Your Plot

1. Glowing Watering Can With Fairy Lights

For this DIY, all you need is an old metal watering can, fairy lights, and a Shepherd's hook used for hanging flower pots.

First, remove the head of the watering can—it should remove like a showerhead—and make the holes in it wider to fit the fairy lights. Then feed the fairy lights through the holes and you've got a gorgeous piece for your garden.

2. Bottle Cap Flowers

Bottle caps are hard to dispose of. Instead of throwing them away and risking them getting sent to landfills, save them and use them to make this DIY flower to stick in your garden!

These bottle cap flowers are one-of-a-kind and keep pesky bottle caps from getting stuck in recycling machinery or getting sent to landfills.

3. Broken Pot Fairy Garden

Don't toss out your broken plant pot! Instead, use those pieces to assemble an adorable fairy garden. All you need to do is arrange the pieces of the broken pot to make different levels of the garden. Then, after using an adhesive or sculpting clay to hold the pieces in place, add potting soil.

Next, make the steps for the fairy house from other broken pieces and add plants and accessories. Talk about turning trash into a treasure you'll admire every time you look at your charming garden.

4. Upcycled Rainbow Pallet Flower Garden Planter

This tutorial requires a little more work than the others on this list—but it's definitely worth it! You'll need a wooden pallet that's sanded, smoothed, and painted to your desire. You'll also need flowers planted in terracotta pots and worm clamps to attach them to the wooden planks.

5. Old Drawers Porch Planters

Looking to get creative and think outside the box? This is the DIY for you. This tutorial takes old drawers—from a nightstand or end table—and turns them into planters for your porch or yard.

While this tutorial teaches you how to build the planters, you can take the easy route: Find old furniture at local thrift stores and turn them into a planter.

6. DIY Scrabble Tile Herb Garden Markers

These garden markers are perfect for herb gardens, vegetable gardens, and flower gardens—especially if you can't remember which plant is which!

You'll need Scrabble tiles, craft sticks, and hot glue. You can either use the Scrabble game you have at home or find one at a thrift store. Once you spell out the herbs in your garden, simply stick the craft stick in the soil.

7. Beer Bottle Garden Path

If you have a big garden that needs a walking path running through it, you can make one by upcycling beer bottles. Yes, really.

This blogger had friends and family save them up for nearly a year before they were transformed into a 15-foot-long path. You could also use wine bottles. Not only does the final result look amazing, but it's also a great conversation starter for anyone visiting your home!