How to create a garden on a budget: a fresh lick of paint and pollinator plants can transform your outside space into a haven for wildlife in six months

When Mark Smyth and Laurent Delorme moved into their Walthamstow terrace house two years ago, the south-facing garden consisted of dead grass, rotting decking, a broken fence and a shed full of rubbish.

But the challenge held no fear for architect Mark, who grew up on a plant nursery in Ireland.

They’ve since created an enchanting space alive with colour, butterflies and bees and perfect for barbecues, a quiet coffee or an evening potter with a glass of wine.

The entire project, done at weekends and in the evenings on and off over six months, cost £2,000, proving you don’t have to call in professionals or spend a fortune.

Instead of lawn, a romantic gravel path winding between deep flowerbeds works well in small, narrow plots, bringing the greenery in and hiding the end of the garden from the house.

Mark and IT manager Laurent dug up the top layer of lawn and brought it through the house in bags.

After marking out the shape of the path they dug down 10cm, throwing the soil on to the beds either side.

They hammered in metal edging (Everedge Classic, 5x1 metre strips for £36) to make the sides of the path then added pea shingle from their local garden centre.

A treated softwood shed, £300 from B&Q was painted black for an instantly smarter look.

Spending a total £1,000, Mark and Laurent replaced rotting deck with treated softwood decking (walthamforestfencing.co.uk) and made a new fence with timber from Wickes.

The close-board fence with a dark coat of Farrow & Ball Downpipe shows off foliage and seems to push back the boundary.

Buy small plants, which will soon grow, and use any that you already have.

Mark and Laurent brought potted Sago palms and two standard rosemary bushes from their old balcony. Left in their pots the palms add height and a focal point at the end of the path. Planted in the ground, the rosemary romped, giving the planting structure all year.

All plants came from Northfields Nursery for about £400.

Since bringing in bees, birds and butterflies was the priority, Mark chose verbena bonariensis, nepeta Walkers Low, lavender Hidcote, Achillea Moonshine and Cerise Queen, echinacea Cheyenne Spirit and poppies, all pollinator magnets.

A mature Brown Turkey fig tree was planted in a pit lined with paving slabs to encourage it to fruit.

Look out for bargains at nurseries. Mark likes to buy “all the dead-looking perennials for a quid. They can be easily brought back to life.”

Any gaps in the border are filled with trailing pelargoniums in pots, replaced in winter with cyclamen.

In spring Mark sows sweetpeas and cosmos in his mini greenhouse and transplants them to “brighten up any spot that looks sad”.