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7 Ways to Save Money in the Garden

By Louisa Price

Growing and cultivating a home garden is fun but can also be a huge expense if you are not careful. Maintaining your garden on a budget is not as difficult as it seems; you just need to organize and plan ahead. Here are a handful of simple gardening tips and tricks to help you save money while keeping your garden beautiful and healthy.

The first thing to keep in mind when you are purchasing garden supplies, particularly seeds, is to buy only in small quantities and get what you need. Buying extra seeds is like pouring your money down the drain.

It is also a good idea that you buy your home garden from nearby sources. Like plants, home garden suppliers and vendors may be spurting in your local neighborhood and more on the internet. Although online sellers may seem very attractive with incredibly low prices, great packages and deals, you should also consider extra fees like shipping and freight charges. All these additional charges can add up quickly to much bigger expenses. So when you compare prices and costs, be sure to look at the total expense instead of the individual item price tags.

If you intend to buy heavy items such as soil, animal manure, green sand and other ingredients of organic fertilizers, it’s always a good idea to get them from local sources since heavy items generally mean higher shipping costs.

Always be on the lookout for sources that are free. For instance, you may want to swap seedling, plants and other materials with your gardening friends. This way, both parties can benefit from each other. You get something you need while your friend gets something that he or she needs as well. Moreover, by sharing a common interest, you establish and nurture long-term friendships.

Another way to save money in the garden is to go for shrubs and plants that naturally grow in your neighborhood or locale. You may be amazed to find some of the most beautiful wildflowers growing inconspicuously at the street corner.

As for fertilizers, go organic and get the most benefit out of your trash. Take banana peels for example, it is rich in potassium and very good for the soil.

In addition, waste does not only mean compost but it could also include other things such as an old wooden ladder or steel grates. An old ladder could be the perfect trellis on which to grow climbing plants like beans or peas.

You also want to time your purchases. Flowers and plants come in seasons and their prices fluctuate accordingly. You can save a fair bit of money on a particular flowering shrub which could cost around $30 dollars during March and drops down to $15 in November. Autumn is usually a great season to get the best deals from plant sales.

If you are a beginner gardener, feeling a little hesitant about making holes for planting seeds, trees or shrubs, it is quite likely that you may decide to pay extra planting charges at your local nurseries instead of doing the job yourself. But keep in mind that there are no guarantees that your plants will grow when the nursery does the planting.

Therefore, try to plant the seeds yourself as this not only saves you cash but also rewards you with hands-on experience which is very important especially if you want to continue nourishing your home garden on your own. Planting is not really that difficult; you can always seek advice from the nursery if you are not sure what or how to go about it.

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