Gardening by the month by Marie Gardner

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees Tips for Gardening on the Cheap

Many people think that gardening requires going to a garden center and plunking down a huge amount of money for the plants. It is true that it’s remarkably easy for your garden to turn into a time and money sinkhole.
However, as you have learned by reading this column over the years, there are a lot of ways to start and maintain a garden cheaply. We will review them in this month’s column.

Plan Ahead
Many garden center purchases are impulse buys. Go ahead and visit the garden center, but curb the impulses with a little planning. Sketch your landscape design on paper before you start planting and building. Knowing exactly what you need and where you’re going to put it helps avoid wasting money.
Think about a design that can be implemented in stages or cut back as your budget requires. Few people have the financial resources to landscape their property all at once. Divide your project into phases, and pay as you go. You will then also be able to evaluate your progress and adjust plans before moving to the next phase.
If you do plan to spend a lot of money in spurts, take out a home equity line of credit. These loans are financially flexible, are there when you need them, and are not charging interest when you don’t.
Invest your money in your hardscape. This is your garden’s basic infrastructure, and includes fountains and other garden sculpture, walkways, soil, water features and fences.

Buy Small
Trees can be a focal point of your design and add value to your property. They are much less expensive to buy when they are small. Plant them with an eye to how they will affect your garden when they are grown.
Select perennials in smaller pots. They grow little in the first season because of transplant shock. The following spring, after a winter to put down roots, perennials will thrive. Both big and little plants will reach mature height.
Start plants from seed, especially annuals and vegetables, rather than purchasing plants. Those tomato plants in the store with tomatoes already on them will actually fare worse at transplant time because they have already begun to put their energy into bearing fruit, and will endure a much greater transplant shock.

Use Ready Resources
Divide the mature perennials already in your garden. (Remember: If the plant blooms in the spring, divide in the fall. If it blooms in summer or fall, divide in the spring.) Many perennials, such as sedum, can be divided into segments when you buy them. Each will root.
Join a swap group to share your excess plants and increase your plant variety. This is a wonderful way to make new friends and grow your garden for free. Ask a neighbor if you can take runners from his strawberry patch or help him divide his flowers.
You can also share bulk orders or rental fees for tillers, chippers or other heavy equipment with people in your swap group.

Order Wisely by Mail
The variety offered by mail-order catalogs is inspiring, but don’t overpay on shipping because you order from six companies every spring.
Shopping online or by phone is convenient, and prices may be lower than in stores, but don’t forget to include shipping costs when comparing prices with local sources.
Likewise, use local sources for the heavy stuff. The cost of shipping heavy items can exceed the purchase price.

Search Out Alternative Sources
A bale of straw is called “mulch” at a garden center; it is priced much cheaper as “livestock bedding” at a farm store.
You can buy bulk compost from local manufacturers for about a third of what a garden center would charge. Bark chips and other mulch are also cheaper in bulk.
Limbs cleared from power lines are shredded, and you can often get the mulch free from the utility company. Some city or community sanitation departments offer free mulch and compost, and construction and demolition sites can be sources of bricks and stones.
Also, when you buy can be as important as where you buy. Save money on trees, shrubs, perennials, soil and mulch by buying late in the season. Large discounts are common during autumn sales. Plus, autumn is a great time to plant.
Lumber for outdoor projects is often cheaper during winter months.

Care For What You Have
Check the garden section of the local library or the Extension website (ext.vt.edu) for cheap homemade alternatives to commercial pest poisons. A mixture of ammonia and water, or even stale beer, is deadly to slugs. Control aphids with a few drops of dish soap in a squirt bottle full of water.
A thick layer of mulch will dramatically cut the watering bill. Also, to save time, money and water, use a low-pressure sprinkle or drip irrigation system on a timer. You will quickly recoup the costs by watering more efficiently.
Overwinter tender plants by protecting them heavily with mulch or bringing them inside. Uncover or replant them in spring rather than buying new.
Happy gardening!

For More Information
A good reference book is “The Frugal Gardener: How to Have More Garden for Less Money,” by Catrina Tudor Erler (Rodale Press). This book offers a variety of tips on how to be budget- conscious in all aspects of gardening, from buying healthy plants to creating a low-maintenance garden.

 Marie Gardner has an M.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in education and is a Virginia Master Gardener. Email suggestions for future columns to MGardner@vcu.edu. Please include "garden column suggestion" in the subject line.

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