14 Inexpensive Ways To Create A Relaxing Hideaway Spot In Your Garden

Having a quiet, peaceful outdoor space can provide a nice respite from busy schedules all year round. If you think you need to spend a lot of money to create a backyard retreat, think again: There are many creative approaches to creating a private space in the garden. Making a relaxing garden hideaway spot can be done very inexpensively, and there are ideas to fit every budget. 

While it's nice to have a gazebo or patio with a built-in arbor, it may seem daunting to create a private or secluded space in the garden if there's not already a structure to work with. There are portable gazebos available, but these can often be expensive. Outdoor furniture can also be pricey if purchased new. But thrifty options abound for making your hideaway. You can get furniture at yard sales or thrift shops. Inexpensive fencing materials include rolled willow fencing or upcycled wood pallets.

The main features you want to have in your hideaway can be summarized with an easy-to-remember trio of words: shade, seating, and serenity. This means you want your hideaway to be cool, comfy, and quiet, especially in summer. Trees, hedges, shrubs and other plants offer shade and also help to absorb sound in a noisy neighborhood or near a highway. If you don't have hedges or trees, annual flowers in containers can also create coolness and shade, act as sound buffers, and help define space.

A comfy retreat space can be created very simply with just a couple of chairs and a small table placed in a secluded or shady spot on your patio or deck. If you don't have a lot of room, placing some container plants near your seating arrangement can define the space and make it feel like you're surrounded by the garden. Choose colors you enjoy that feel welcoming — your potted annual flowers can complement the colors of your furniture.

If you're a thrift shop lover, inveterate trash picker, or yard sale maven, you may already know how easy it to find useful things without spending much. Watch for spring and fall clean up, too, when people put out things they're discarding from their garages, attics, and basements. You might find a comfy old wicker chair that just needs cleaning, a vintage table you can refresh with a coat of paint, an old fire dish, planters, or any number of items to make a funky, yet functional, hideaway space.

Creating privacy for a backyard or garden hideaway need not require an expensive fence installation. Rolled willow or bamboo fencing is available at most larger garden stores. It's easy to work with to create instant fencing or to add a layer of cover to an open wire fence. This solution not only provides privacy but also helps create shade. You can leave the fencing up year-round and add some climbing vines or roll it up to store during the winter to help the material last a bit longer.

If you have a lot of space, consider planting tall ornamental grasses to create your hideaway. These clumping perennials offer structure, shade, privacy, and noise absorption in a large yard, eliminating the need to construct fencing or arbors. Another advantage of ornamental grasses is that they help reduce environmental pollutants in soil and groundwater. Choose their locations carefully, as once they're established, they can be a bit unwieldy to remove. Avoid putting them in flower beds where they have a tendency to crowd out other plants: Give them plenty of room.

Although not as cost-effective as using upcycled pavers or bricks, using pea gravel is an easy way to create a small seating area next to established beds. To reduce the need for large amounts of gravel, level out the ground beforehand as best as you can, perhaps by adding a layer of sand or topsoil beneath the gravel or weed barrier materials such as plastic or cardboard. A shovel, a rake, and a wheelbarrow are basic but essential tools that make laying gravel on a patio a fairly easy task. 

This simple approach to a garden hideaway fulfills the three necessary features: shade, seating, and serenity. Depending on where you place the bench, you might get some morning sun and afternoon shade: a nice relief from summer heat as the day progresses. The large leafy hedge creates privacy and buffers against noise, as well as creating a shady spot to relax. You can try to get a new one marked down at the end of the season or refurbish a used bench with some paint and a comfy cushion or two.

Just the mention of a cottage garden conjures a dreamy, romantic landscape, perfect for relaxing with some tea and a good book. Cottage gardens are fairly easy to design and plant. Use low-maintenance clumping perennials and let them fill in, creating drifts of color. Check out local garden groups on social media for plant swaps or free perennial divisions. You can make a simple mulch path lined with cottage favorites (maybe some Shasta daisies, coneflowers, day lilies, Asters, and garden Phlox), leading to your hideaway with a bench or a reading chair.

Who doesn't love napping in the shade on a hot summer day? If you have mature trees in your backyard, why not hang a simple string hammock? This can be a perfect place for naps, reading, or just daydreaming while looking up into the trees. It only takes moments to put this garden hideaway idea together, and you can take the hammock down when you're not using it. There are also stand-alone hammocks, if you don't have sufficiently robust trees or structures to hang one from. 

If your garden is crowded with plants, you already have spots to create a lush secret hideaway. Tuck a small chair or bench in between shrubs or amidst the taller flowers in a large bed. Add soft cushions (check out thrift shops or end-of-season sales) and your relaxing retreat is ready to go. Cushions made with waterproof fabric work best because they're more resilient against moisture, but you can just keep an eye on the weather forecast and remove cloth cushions before it rains.

Having a small stone patio makes for a nice foundation for a seating area in your hideaway, for morning coffee, afternoon tea, or evening beverages. You can create a patio with mismatched, upcycled pavers and bricks. This is a fairly straightforward DIY project, but it takes a bit of patience to make sure everything is placed at the correct depth to keep the patio level. Add some spreading ground covers like creeping Sedums or dead nettle for a nice green, slightly wild look.

If you want a retreat space that will be sheltered from rain, a simple camping pavilion like this CROWN SHADES Pop Up Canopy Tent is easy to set up and can be stored away when not in use. If you're planning to keep the pavilion up all season, be sure to use ropes and stakes to secure it from wind and place it in a spot where it's not too exposed in case of a heavy storm. You can dress up these pavilions with fabric, string lights, and other decor to give it a festive, cozy look.

There are many annual and perennial flowers that grow tall and provide wonderful privacy screens in the garden when planted strategically. These can include sunflowers, with many varieties growing over five feet tall and sometimes up to ten feet tall. Other annuals that grow tall enough to provide privacy around a seating area include Zinnias and Cosmos. Tall summer-blooming perennial flowers include Joe Pye weed, lupines, monkshood, cornflowers, and garden Phlox. Biennial bloomers like hollyhocks and foxgloves will reseed; plant them two years in a row to get blooms every year.

There's no need to buy an expensive trellis to create a place for vining plants to climb and enclose your garden abode. Hog wire is inexpensive and can be cut to size and attached to stakes, and is also sturdy enough to stand without supports if inserted into the ground. Plant climbing annuals like sweet peas; just make sure they get at least six hours of sun in northern regions and some afternoon shade in warmer climates.

Used wood pallets are widely available for free. They're often left for pick up outside businesses that use them and are easy to get from local buy nothing groups on social media. These sturdy wood pieces can be upcycled into fencing or furniture for your rustic retreat space. Make a small bench by attaching two pallets and cutting one in half to create the back support. Be sure to remove nails that stick out and sand off rough patches. Add thrift shop pillows and you're ready to have a seat in the shade.