A thrifty gran has revealed how she transformed her overgrown "jungle" garden into a dream outdoor space on a budget - and saved herself more than £5,000.<br /><br />Savvy Karen Brooke, 67, created her stunning garden oasis by upcycling materials as well as scouring selling sites and social media for bargains.<br /><br />The retired PE teacher bought her three-bed bungalow in the aptly-named Forest Avenue, in Goostrey, Cheshire, for £267,000 two years ago.<br /><br />But instead of being fazed by its abandoned garden, Karen broke up the soil with a tiller she bought from Aldi and began to transform the plot over the next year.<br /><br />She erected a greenhouse in one corner and created a waterfall out of unwanted rocks that she sourced for free online.<br /><br />She also put up a trellis - which is now covered in pink and white roses - and planted box hedges, lavender, hardy grasses and ornamental conifers. <br /><br />Karen spent roughly £7,000 making her garden, but saved thousands more by “upcycling” most of the items for her amazing 18m by 18m plot.<br /><br />She now plans to spend the warm nights enjoying her favourite tipple in her summer house, which has a 'gin corner'. <br /><br />Karen said: “I always wanted to do the garden myself as I like to get my hands stuck in and knew I wouldn’t want to spend what a landscape gardener would have cost. <br /><br />“Just thinking about it, it would have set me back around £12,000, so it was better to do it myself.”<br /><br />She says her green-fingered hobby was also the secret to getting fit as she shed a stone after spending a year turning her rear plot into a nature-lovers paradise.<br /><br />And she has now urged other pensioners to roll up their sleeves and get planting as a way to keep mobile and lose weight in their older years. <br /><br />She said: “When I first saw the garden I thought what can I do with it and just got stuck in - and have lost a stone in weight in the twelve months it has taken.<br /><br /> “Doing the landscaping and the renovation of the garden was fantastic for losing weight because you’re walking around with wheelbarrows and shifting rocks.<br /><br />“And now it’s all planted, it still keeps you fit because you’re bending down and stretching. It’s also fantastic for your mental health and your happiness.<br /><br />"It’s just ended up like an oasis. I get the sun all day in it and it's very, very peaceful."<br /><br />Gran-of-four Karen said she had first set eyes on her bungalow two and half years ago after finding out that the occupant had sadly passed away.<br /><br />She knew the property would need an internal and external renovation but decided to snap it up as it was close to where her daughter was living.<br /><br />Her relatives helped gut the home by ripping up the floorboards and taking off the plaster before builders arrived to complete the work needed inside.<br /><br />And while her home improvements were taking shape, Karen said she had begun to set her sights on the garden.<br /><br />She said: “When I first saw it, I didn’t really see how bad it was – I just saw how good it could be.
