So long as there’s a backyard outside your rental house, the door is open to creating affordable outdoor living spaces.

Many rental homes lack backyard landscaping or it’s dull and doesn’t reflect any personal style. To create a wonderful space in just one or two weekends, consider tips from the Small Budget Gardener for revamping your yard and adding comfortable summer-living areas outdoors.

To get the most from your efforts, focus on two equally important factors: First, make low-cost choices. Second, choose portable items, so you can take them to your next house.

The most affordable patio makers are plain concrete squares known as “steppers.” The smallest ones are about 1 foot square and 2 inches thick and run about a dollar or so apiece. Larger 2-foot sizes can run about $3 each. Use them to create a new patio for under $100.

If you look at contemporary high-end landscapes, you’ll discover that those folks prefer to use nearly identical units to create greener porous paving areas. The steppers can be set edge to edge, or leave a gap for decorative gravel, grass or groundcover.

Create a fire pit for about the same amount of money using antique-looking concrete block tumbled in giant drums to make them look old. All over Pinterest are examples of how to create a fire pit by stacking these blocks just so. Some repurpose old washing-machine drums to hold the fire, surrounded by dry walls of block. Their weight is such that

stacked creations don’t need a foundation or mortar. When it comes time to move, just unstack, load up and go.

Do not overlook paint and stain. They can turn worn-out wood fences or sheds into something truly delightful. Often, fencing at rentals is a hodgepodge of wooden slats, but a can of stain can unify the spans via subtle color. Water down latex paint to make it more like stain in your favorite color. Or if you’re looking for a lovely cottage garden, use whitewash to transform an everyday look into a clean and tidy background.

A wall trellis is easy to make with scrap twigs — or simply buy a cheap wood and paint it. Some gardeners are recycling old screen doors, metal bedsteads and sections of old wrought-iron fencing for wall treillage, too. These flat panels stand against walls to allow vines to climb up for a beautiful vertical garden. Best of all, you can simply detach the trellis and take it with you.

Big annual plants are always the best choice for rentals. You can grow them from seed or buy them in low-cost six packs to make your summer-living spaces look nestled into the landscape. The most powerful plants are big, burly sunflowers. Use in a patch or row or as a single specimen. Hollyhock is another great choice that leaves you with a whole crop of seeds for next year. Cosmos, foxgloves and all the amaranths are easy-to-grow choices.

As always, containers are the best way to grow anything more long-lived, such as dwarf fruit trees and blueberries. The larger the pot the more powerful it will be in greening up rental spaces with big plants that will go elsewhere when you do.

Learning to garden as a renter is a great way to save money while improving your lifestyle. Even the smallest spaces can be incredibly rewarding when transformed with these ideas.

(Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Learn more at www.MoPlants.com. Contact her at mogilmer@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 891, Morongo Valley, CA 92256.)

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THE Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show brought together florists, growers and flower fans last week.

The show ran from Wednesday to Sunday, transforming the Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building into a grower’s paradise.

The MIFGS attracts more than 120,000 visitors each year, bringing together the cream of the nursery, landscaping and cut flower industries.

First place in the Growers Avenue Best in Show award for floristry went to Monvale Flowers from Silvan, with second place going to TNB Tulips from Monbulk and third to Koomens Flowers, also from Monbulk.

Helen Bye, creator of the Koomens Flowers display, said she liked this year’s creation more than last, even though last year she won first place.

“I like the freshness and the clean lines of the greens and whites in this year’s display,” she said.

Ms Bye utilised the crystal stands she uses for weddings to create a garden of crisp, white shrubs made of flowers.

“I specialise in weddings and thought, why not do that? People love a bit of bling.”

“They looked especially lovely with the exhibition lights shining through them.”

Ms Bye goes to the Melbourne Wholesale Market three times a week to source flowers and has a workshop in Maribyrnong, Melbourne.

Over the 30 years of her career she’s seen things people increasingly spend more money on flowers, often decorating their entire reception with flowers.

“Because of the internet world people see what’s going on overseas and they want that,” she said.

“People bring you more and more ideas to create and they get bigger and bigger.”

The Floral Gift awards went to: Bernadette Curry in first place, Nici Thompson in second place and Janet Alesich third for their arrangements.

Outside, Seasons Landscape won Best Outdoor Exhibit, with Terry Meehan and Steve Day’s garden creation of Dr Seuss’ The Lorax.

The rest of the Seasons Landscape display was themed “Melbourne Culture”, featuring a cafe, garden art gallery, movie cinema and a mini football field.

It was Terry’s 13th year at the Garden Show and this was his fourth gold medal in a row.

“The inspiration was that we needed to do something different after so many years,” he said.

“It was a little bit different to everything else at the show because we didn’t want to do anything we’d done before.”

It took 15 people working 12 hours a day for eight days straight to create the display, which was removed as soon as the doors to the show closed last night.

“It’s back to the parkland that it was – which is a little bit heartbreaking actually,” Terry said.

“We recycle just about everything we use. It’s goes back to the nursery or back to storage to next year.”

Body art was another feature of the display, with Emma Hack – who did the body art for singer Gotye’s film clip for Somebody That I Used To Know – painting Adelaide model Letitia Fitzpatrick with flowers.

Scott Wynd and Darin Bradbury from TLC landscape design won Best in Show and gold in the Show Garden award for their urban courtyard creation, utilising bamboo and other low-maintenance foliage to introduce a bit of nature back into the city.

“The design is based on a small, Collingwood or Fitzroy courtyard – it’s only an 8 x 8m space,” Scott said.

“We have got the fundamentals of an outdoor kitchen or barbeque – it’s about having a lot of revenge of plant life into that space.

“Plant life enriches life and makes you feel better, and we’re trying to bring that back in rather than the very harsh landscapes we’ve seen.”

DURHAM — From bird feeders and garden gnomes, to bathtubs and gutter cleaners, the Seacoast Home and Garden Show this weekend is offering homeowners some fresh ideas for home and garden projects.

The show, coinciding with the beginning of spring, drew more than 200 booths to University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center Arena on Saturday.

Stephanie Mudgett, 57, drove all the way from Berlin to attend the Home and Garden Show. She said she is working on renovating her century-old house and is looking for some ideas.

Nicole Rembisz, 31, said she came to the Home and Garden Show to look for new patio furniture and landscaping ideas, as she recently purchased a home in Lee.

Saturday morning, Rembisz was one of multiple visitors sitting comfortably in a handcrafted wood patio chair, with a foot rest, made by Big Bear Chair out of York, Maine. The company’s owner, James Taylor, said all patio and garden furniture by Big Bear Chair is Adirondack style, and is made of Western Red Cedar with waterproof glue.

“We are having a really good show, and it just opened,” said Taylor around 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Also on display Saturday were self-cleaning gutters made by Nature’s Way Gutter Systems, located in Deerfield. Owner Dan Bishop said while homeowners typically have to clean their gutters once a year, the self-cleaning gutters implement covers and a system that washes out debris with regular drainage.

“You’ll never have to clean a gutter again,” said Bishop, who was offering visitors free estimates on the self-cleaning gutter installation at Saturday’s show.

A crowd of people was seen at the Tico Art booth, which showcased handcrafted Costa Rican hardwoods, such as puzzle boxes with secret compartments, bowls, and kitchen accessories.

“Have you seen the woodworking man? Oh my God, they’re awesome,” said Manchester resident Ellen Weist about the Tico Art booth.

Weist, 49, said she came to the show because she is trying to start a community garden in Manchester. On Saturday, she was looking at items relating to plants and landscaping, as well as the solar power installation being offered by Harmony Energy Works.George Horrocks, president of Harmony Energy Works, said 60 to 70 percent of visitors who stopped by his company’s booth have signed up for a site survey of their home, for a solar assessment and cost estimate. He said since a year ago, much more people are interested in going solar. Horrocks attributed this increase to PSNH’s recent rise in rates for energy delivery, as well as federal tax credits for solar power expiring in 2016.

Those looking to get a start on gardening were also eyeing the U-Gro hydroponic garden systems, which allows gardeners to grow plants in their backyards without the use of soil.

U-Gro General Manager Jim Horne explained the system, developed in Barnstead, uses coconut fiber rather than soil, meaning that plants are not competing for nutrients. The system results in no weeds, and attracts a minimal amount of insects, he said.

The 19th annual Seacoast Home and Garden Show continues today, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.