Gardening On A Shoestring

It's true: We are living in a time where we are all tightening the belt to Recycled Chair As Garden Art keep expenses down. But, if you are like me, you aren't going to give up gardening without a fight! There is some good news, though; we can and should practice some, "Creative gardening" methods to keep our gardening habits fed while saving money at the same time. There are some things we all can do to help maintain our budgets and keep us gardening happily and without guilt:

Maintain equipment

--Start with the basics. Maintaining equipment such as power mowers, shredders, even the faucets and hoses will go a long way to saving money in the long run. It is far less expensive to have power equipment tuned-up than it is to buy expensive replacements. Likewise, sharpening and cleaning hand tools such as shovels, edgers, and spades will also help to keep costs down. While many garden tools aren't that expensive, the cost of replacing a good shovel can be translated into several flats of bedding plants and a hanging basket or two. Leaking faucets and hoses will slowly up the cost of the water bill. It all adds up!

Water Properly And Practice Water Conservation Methods

--I have written several articles that delve more deeply on these subjects: Watering Wisely, Xeriscaping Is NOT Zero-Scaping, The Merits of Mulch, and one about composting, There's (Black) Gold In Them Thar Piles! The reasons for using these methods include reducing the need for watering, using applications of mulch and compost to improve the water-holding capacity of the soil, and growing plants that require less frequent attention in the way of watering. All of these methods when used together can and will help cut the costs of maintaining valuable plantings and gardens.

Seed Saving and Seed/Plant Swaps

--Perhaps you have an abundance of Morning Glory Seeds. Maybe you have a friend who has an abundance of Marigold seeds. By networking with different gardening buddies, you can exchange seeds and have a bit of everything for little more cost than a few stamps and envelopes, zip lock baggies and tape tags for your seeds. There are numerous communities on the Internet and websites that promote seed exchanges. These are all worth investigating, and exchanging is a very good way to increase seed supplies. Also, saving seeds from various plants is a good way to have a free supply of annuals and vegetables for the next year's growing season. Not every seed is going to come true to form, particularly of hybrids, but a petunia will still be a petunia, and a tomato will still be a tomato, and there are many varieties such as Four O'Clocks that pretty much stay true to form year after year. Hand-in-hand with this is participating in plant swaps with neighbors, family, and friends. If you have a good supply of iris divisions, swap them with the neighbor for some other perennials, for example.

Cost-Cutting Shopping Methods

--If you are going to order from a catalog or on a website, try to combine orders with a friend or two. This will help to keep the shipping costs down. If you place a large enough order or one early enough, there are often free bonuses such as extra plants or seeds included in the order, or even a percent-off savings!

--Take advantage of end-of-season sales. Seeds packets can be found in local garden centers and other retail outlets for a song. Certainly, some of the viability of the seeds will be lost. But, even with a 50% germination rate, most seed packets provide enough potential plants to make buying them this year at a reduced cost and growing them next year a wise purchase. Plants are often offered at reduced prices in late spring or fall. Examples of this might be reduced prices of annuals in the late spring to early summer and nursery stock in the fall. You have to be armed with knowledge to know that a plant is "survivable", though. By that I mean, if a plant is in such terrible condition that nothing is going to make it pull through, it isn't worth the reduced price to buy something that is going to fail to survive and thrive. Also, some shrubs do better when planted in the spring as opposed to a late-season planting, such as magnolias, for example. If you know your "stuff", though, you can really glean some bargains by shopping at the end of the season!

--If you are fortunate enough to live in a community that offers sales of excess plants used in park displays, take advantage of those sales! Conservatories and parks departments often have enough display plants left over early enough in the season that the plants themselves are in good condition and are almost always reasonably priced.

Recycle

--Do you have an old bucket or wheelbarrow with holes in it? Have some broken clay pots? Recycle! Old buckets and wheelbarrows make marvelous growing containers for plants. Those broken shards from clay pots can be used to cover drainage holes in pots and planters. Leaking hoses can be used in many ways, including as soaker hoses. Pieces of hoses can be used as wire protectors on tree supports. You can recycle vegetable scraps and other organic materials by composting.

--Garden Accents: Do you have an old, rickety wooden chair? Use it in the garden as an accent or place a few potted plants on it. Paint it, seal it, and tuck it into a corner to add a whimsical touch to your garden. Have an old pair of boots? Punch a few holes for drainage in them, add soil and a few bedding plants. Place them next to a garden bench or seating area. Put on those thinking caps and think about ways to recycle items you would normally toss out!

Use Double-Duty (Or More) Plants

--If you are planning on spending money for a tree, shrub, or other long-term plant investment, buy plants that serve double or more duty. For example, an arbor covered with edible grapes not only provides welcome shade, but also provides a harvest of fruit. Choose trees that provide several seasons of interest, including beautiful spring blossoms, good fall color, interesting form, or interesting bark in the winter.

Get A Similar Landscaping Effect At A Lower Cost

--You can achieve much the same "look" or effect by substituting less expensive hardscaping materials around the yard. Instead of an expensive paved flagstone walkway, use fewer pieces of flagstone and use more crushed stones as the filler material between the stones. You will use less flagstone and achieve a similar effect. Use concrete molds and quick setting concrete to make cobblestone or brick-look paths. Color concrete with tints and make individual pavers from forms. Make your own tuffa troughs. Not only will you save money, but you will gain a lot of enjoyment and pride in the experience of making many of your own hardscaping items!

--Go to demolition recyclers. Many demolition services have their own sales lot for materials salvaged from demolition projects such as bricks and fencing. If they don't have their own sales lot, they often sell their recycled materials to salvage yards that in turn sell to the public. You might be able to find old sash windows that can be used to build cold frames, for example.

There is no reason why cost-saving methods should diminish the joy of gardening. We can all explore creative ways to stretch our dollars. By doing so, not only will we be able to continue gardening without breaking the budget, we will also take more satisfaction in our gardening efforts as well!