GARDENING ON A BUDGET. CAN WE DO IT?
Are you and your family on a budget? Isn’t most everyone? So, can we still enjoy gardening with a budget? Absolutely!! But, it may take some good planning and creativity.
In my over 40 years in the garden center business I have never before experienced such high prices. Everything costs more – labor, materials, gas, freight, etc. – these have all increased which leads to a higher landing price for our goods. All these increases are passed onto us. We, in turn, need to pass on these higher prices onto you by increasing our retail price.
So, here are some gardening tricks to saving money:
- First and foremost – set up a plan of what you want to do and accomplish for the year. A good plan may help with reducing over buying of plants and plant products.
- Be a V. I. P. customer with us. Being a VIP customer with us will give you notifications of all the upcoming sales. Shopping for items on sale is a great way to save money.
- Think about starting your vegetables and herbs from seed. This is a cost savings when you start your plants from seed versus buying plants that are
- If you have a yard then you may want to consider making your own compost. Save the leaves each fall. Let them break down and decompose into organic matter. This way there is no more need to be buying soil amendments.
- Shop for clearance plants that have been marked down. At least here, most times there is nothing wrong with the plants – just out of season. A good example, we recently marked down all our remaining Creeping Phlox to $5.00 a plant. They were just past their blooming period. What a great savings. They will be beautiful again next spring.
- Recycle / Reuse – Need any plastic grower pots? Many of you may need pots to plant some seedlings or plants that you have just rooted. Come see us and our plastic pot recycling bin. I love watching people drop off their unneeded pots and, then, I love watching people selecting pots that they can use. ALL FREE. Just way to save some money on containers.
- Think about edible landscaping. Start adding small fruits and vegetables in your existing landscape. You can plant blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, etc. What a convenience to have all of this handy and not be buying in the grocery store.
- If possible, reduce the size of your lawn. Maintaining a healthy lawn can be very expensive over the course of a year with all the fertilizing, chemicals, overseeding, etc. Maintaining a yard can cost hundreds of dollars in upkeep. You ask “how do you reduce the size of a lawn?” You can do so by…
- Expanding the landscape beds. Make these beds larger. If you have trees you can put rings of mulch under the trees. If you have this already then see about making these rings larger.
- Plant more perennials – especially native perennials. Reduce the planting of annuals. Perennials will come back year after year. Native perennials require less maintenance.
- Be more WATER-WISE. Lower your cost in sewer and water usage. Consider using soaker hoses for watering your plants this summer. Soaker hoses are much more efficient. Also, water early in the morning = less evaporation.
These are just a few ideas and thoughts as to what all of us can be doing in order to continue with enjoying our gardens and being budget minded.
PLANT A LITTLE HAPPINESS without breaking the bank!!!!!!