Saving money on your gardening
I live in an apartment, above a shop. It’s on a main road, so we don’t have a balcony or a garden. I spend a significant proportion of my time thinking about what I am going to do once I get a garden of my very own.
Once the opportunity presents itself, I am going to have myself a very beautiful garden. But can I do it on the cheap?
It turns out there are all kinds of clever tips for green thumbs with shallow pockets. Here are some of the best:
Give your lawn some love
Mowing and weeding your lawn is like a hat on a bad hair day; it makes things a whole lot better without much trouble. Just spending a little bit of time making sure your backyard is looking neat will make your garden look a lot better without having to spend a dime.
Feed your plants for less
Apparently fertilizer isn’t a necessity. eHow suggests that banana peel, egg shells and coffee grounds do just as well. It’ll also save you on space in your garbage bin.
Get DIY
Associated Content has a couple of pretty wild suggestions. One of them is to make your own stepping stones. How can you do it? Simple. Get quick drying concrete mix, a discarded pizza box and pour the concrete into the box. The novelty factor of this idea has left me with some exciting inspiration for stepping stones, and I have a heart-shaped cake tin that should be just the ticket.
Ask around
People often have great things in their backyards and are happy to share. Put the word out that you’re looking for seedlings or cuttings, and people will probably overwhelm you with a variety of plants. Make sure you understand how large they might grow, as planting an enormous tree in your tiny square of dirt is going to cause you a lot of unnecessary pain. Think about what kind of plants you want in your garden. For example, planting native plants and flowers can be cheaper, and is better for the environment. They’re also probably less likely to die, which is always cost effective.
Don’t over do it
Have a focus for your garden, a central part that you would like people’s eyes to be drawn to. Designing a garden is like designing a house. Overdoing the garden décor (a term I am so delighted to have learnt in the course of this research) is expensive and won’t make your garden look any better. Have one stand-out feature, like a water feature, and keep everything else relatively simple.
Make it easy on yourself
Do a bit of research and find out what plants are easy to maintain, and grow without much assistance. Sunflowers, crocuses, daffodils are all colourful and will grow whether you want them to or not. Lavender needs no assistance, and rosemary is sure to fill your backyard quickly and with no trouble. Marigolds are cheap and brighten up any pot or garden plot.
If this is an idea that takes your fancy, there are some good resources on the Internet. Dirt Cheap Gardening has some good tips, as does Horticulture Magazine, which has a column Gardening on the Cheap.
How do you keep your garden looking good cheaply?
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