Ask:
you all know that when you get into a gardening store, you can quickly spend alot of money. what are some ways you do it on the cheap side? im always looking for great ideas!
two of my best practices are:
1. if i am planting a veggie in a big pot, i dont fill the whole thing with dirt. i throw in soda/beer cans on the bottom to use as lightweight fill and then have my dirt ontop for planting!
2. i plan with a friend what she will grow and i grow opposite things. then we share! im in charge of the tomatoes, string beans, peppers and whatever else, and she ususally does the "viney" things since she has much more room. we also divvy up the herbs as well!
ok, lets hear more from our frugal gardeners!
Answer:
Those are great ideas. Some other things that I can think of:
1. Hit clearance racks . I bought a ton of rosebushes and mums at the end of the season for less than $1 each. Granted, I missed that growing season, but planted them and they area already perking back up. For perennials, they'll come back the next growing season so unless you need a full lush garden immediately, why pay full price?
2. Ask- i have been through several stores suhc as Walmart where i've seen baskets full of plants just tossed in. I asked an associate how much some of the plants were since I saw some I could use and she said I could take what i wanted as they were going to the trash. I got several annuals that I was able to perk up as well as perennials that I just fertilized and planted and they came back. I figure it never hurts to ask!
3. Freecycle- some people will let you dig up their bulbs, or share extra produce with you iff you just ask. its also a good place to share when you need to divide your bulbs. Also can ask for seeds since lots of folks w/ smaller gardens don't use a whole seed packet. Or do a seed swap with friends/neighbors.
I know there's more but that's all I can think of right now
Answer:
start a garden cuttings club. alot of plants can be grown from cuttings. Share bulbs when digging them up and dividing them. Aso, if you invest in Heirloom seeds you can harvest the seeds for planting next year. You can't do this with every kind of seed, most of them will produce week seeds that won't grow the next year.
My MIL works at a plant nursery. They are only able keep the seed one year then any seeds not sold they throw out. find out when they do that (I think it's in the fall) and ask if you can have them. Ours grew just fine.
Oh, if you know anyone who has llamas, ask if you can have the llama droppings. They make the best fertilizer! Llamas use the same pile to do their business in untill it gets too big then they will go somewhere else, so it's easy to find. The droppings are not hot so they won't burn your plants, just add them right in your garden, and their is no smell to their droppings either. We used some in our garden and our tomato plants were almost 6 feet tall!!!! Plus it's a lot cheaper then buying fertilizer.
-C.
Answer:
Start your own seedlings. Instead of buying the already growing plants, plant the seeds yourself in milk cartons cut in half, or whatever you have to recycle to plant them in. Just remember to get a good quality soil with good fertilizer in it since these are going to be your plants and you want them to be healthy so you have have a good start. Some of the other posts talking about sharing are great! We are from a rural area and my whole life has been about sharing veggies and fruits from your gardens and sharing all the flowers and bulbs and seeds from year to year. I had an aunt who had a milk cow and we traded out fruits from our orchard for fresh mild and homemade butter. I think about "communities" and how they used to work, but now everybody is too busy to have a garden or do any of the things that they used to do. It would be nice to get back to that kind of neighbor helping neighbor kind of living again...ahhh the "good ole days"!!!!! Angela
Answer:
I sold my extra seedlings when I used to start my own. they go fast. so many people want them but can't grow there own for various reasons. I now buy them from someone atr work who does the same thing. she sells them for .25cents.
allgirls
Answer:
One great way to get a lot of different perennials at no cost is to organize a perennial swap. In the fall when everyone is dividing their perennials just pick a day and place and have everyone bring the divided perennials that they do not want. Then everyone is free to take what they need/want. Just make sure that every knows to bring healthy disease/insect free plants. I did this for the local library, but instead of a swap people donated their unwanted divided perennials to the library and we had a planting day. It worked great and the library got hundreds of dollars of perennials at no cost.
Answer:
I do the same with the coke cans in the bottom of the pot. I'll put a layer of rocks on that as well, and then layer in the soil. I buy cheap plastic pots for my backyard.....they just cost a dollar or two and they work fine. I'm planning on buying good pots when they go on sale in the fall.