Description: Homeowners spend a lot of money annually on beautiful gardens and landscaping. However, you can transform your garden on your own, minimizing costs. You just need to follow our gardening advice and find out all the answers in this article.
All gardeners dream about a lawn and garden that is functional, beautiful, and well-kept. A lot of effort and work is usually invested in such gardens, as it is not a simple hobby – gardening is good for the soul. Is it possible to organize a small sustainable garden for the soul without investing a lot of money? Isn’t it sometimes easier to build a garden “from scratch” than to redo an existing one? We have selected a few tips from experienced gardeners who have already gone through their land renovation.
Some of them are quite simple, some will require effort and time from you, but all of them will significantly reduce your costs for a decorative garden and vegetable one. The cold season is a period of low activity in gardening, which means a great time to draw up a detailed plan and prepare for the new spring. This article will determine all the details, from preparing an organic lawn fertilizer to seeding tips. Stay tuned to find out everything about gardening on a budget!
Top Budget-Saving Gardening Tips
Sow seeds directly to the garden; do not buy seedlings
These savings are not gardening know-how: seedlings are more expensive than a pack of seeds. Many people choose the “seedling path” because growing indoors offers some benefits and allows plants to enter the growing season more quickly. However, “direct seeding” takes less time and saves you money. Even with some seed failures, you still get great results by planting a little more seeds and removing the failed seedlings.
Exchange seeds
Follow the various agricultural exhibitions, fairs, and events in your region. Often, their products are sold at discounted prices for promotional purposes. Make new acquaintances with like-minded people and exchange not only valuable experience but also seeds. This kind of in-kind exchange will save you shopping time and money. For example, if your neighbor has fancy pumpkin seeds and you have radish ones, why not expand your gardens by exchanging?
Harvest cuttings
It is convenient to harvest vegetable seeds. But many flowers, shrubs, and trees do not grow well from seed, or it takes a very long time. Besides, hybrids do not have seeds at all, and their reproduction happens in other ways. Almost all perennials, most shrubs, and lianas, so as many trees, reproduce by cuttings. Take the time to get some cuttings and plant them in moist perlite. After a few weeks or a month, leaves will appear on the cutting, producing new roots. This way, you can avoid buying young plants for your garden. Of course, this wise gardening investment will take time, but it’s even pleasant to watch something new grow.
Repurposing and reusing
Gardening plants is not a cheap pleasure, but it costs nothing compared to installing garden sculptures, gazebos, small architectural items, laying decorative paving stones, etc. These are the main budget points of your garden. Even if you prefer a minimalist vegetable garden for functional purposes, you will surely want to add beauty and originality to it anyway. Unusual planters can be made from an old tub, and garden furniture can be made from pallets. Form decorative lattices from old mattresses springs, and adapt old shoes to flowerpots for seasonal herbs. Instead of expensive purchased tiles, use rubble, concrete chips, etc.
Another budget option for gardening accessories: old stairs can serve as shelves for garden decor. For such a creative place, potted plants, garden lights, and various accessories are suitable.
If you don’t have enough space or time for full-fledged vegetable beds, but want to grow your harvest, try setting up a compact mini-vegetable garden in your yard. Planting boxes can look very decorative, especially when young shoots of vegetables and herbs turn green in them.
But do not get carried away too much, so as not to turn the garden into a warehouse of unnecessary trash. Remember that fewer but more interesting details are better.
Choose versatile items
Nature itself offers gardeners free materials that can be used as gardening accessories and elements of landscaping. One of these natural “gifts of nature” is dry tree branches. They can be used in many situations, for example, as stakes for tomatoes and cucumbers and as a material for the construction of hedges or decorative separation of planting areas. And there are many examples, just look around, and you will find various multipurpose items surround you.
Create your own garden
The services of a professional landscape designer to organize your garden space can cost you several thousand dollars. The specialists will, of course, offer you their experience and artistic perspective. To create a dream garden in your yard, you just need a little patience, time, and imagination. During the off-season, start to study guides on general principles of gardening and landscaping, then gradually decide on suitable plants, the location of gazebos, accessory constructions on the lawn, etc. Put it all on paper or use one of the specialized Internet applications.
Prepare fertilizers yourself
Buying a bag of compost or organic fertilizer is, of course, the easiest thing in gardening or agriculture. However, you often have to overpay for simple mixtures, which you can easily prepare yourself. If you don’t have chickens or other “suppliers” of droppings, make the fertilizer yourself. Mix organic kitchen waste with sawdust, grass cuttings, leaves, and garden soil and leave to simmer for a few months.
The eggshell contains additional nutrients (calcium and phosphorus) in sufficient quantities. Chop it up and add to the finished compost. You can also crush the eggshells and sprinkle them around young plants, such as lettuce or basil. Use the ash and cinnamon when planting root crops; when mixed with soil, it will protect it from harmful effects and strengthen your crop.
Look for free compost and mulch
After the felling of the trees, a heap of sawdust remains. This mulch can be obtained for free or at a minimal price; you just need to contact any felling company in your area. The only thing to be afraid of is that sometimes seeds of invasive plants, debris, or pest larvae may remain in such raw mulch. Therefore, you will have to use such materials at your own risk.
Use any waste from your garden that is suitable for mulch. It can be dry grass, autumn leaves, hay, the same sawdust and chips, everything that will preserve moisture. Besides, as they decompose, they will supply your plants with nutrients. However, remember that sawdust and wood chips should not be mixed with the soil; it will only be enough to create a top layer.
Register on the free gardening sites and forums
Sections “Give away for free” and “Free things” on gardening sites should become a must-visit place for you. It is a real gold mine, using which you can buy, if not everything, then a lot: from plant seeds to garden tools. Many useful things can be found in the so-called “flea markets.” There you can always buy relatively new gardening tools for the price of a used one.
Grow environmentally friendly products
When growing plants, stick to sustainable practices of eco gardening. Chemicals and pesticides always cost money; it is easier to attract beneficial insects (ladybugs, lacewing, ground beetles, etc.) to the garden. Plant yellow flowers in the garden – hoverflies are especially fond of them.
Plant a hedge around the garden, and if the garden is large, then also trees – spruce, pine, linden, willow, alder, or viburnum. In such plantings, ground beetles, ladybugs, lacewing, praying mantises, and predatory bugs will find a home. And birds will surely settle there – starlings, tits, flycatchers, which also willingly eat pests.
For the winter, place small wooden boxes filled with dry grass in an isolated place. It will attract beneficial insects to the garden.
Use eco herbicides for gardening naturally
The same situation is with herbicides, you can manually remove the weeds, but this will not always lead to the desired result. To restore the nutrient properties of the soil, it is better to use green manure.
There is original advice on how to destroy weeds using a special method without herbicides. To do this, you need to mix well 4 liters of vinegar, half a glass of salt, 10 drops of detergent for the kitchen and dishes, or other. Use strong vinegar – up to 20 percent. If you choose to use 5%, the result may not be as effective, and additional treatment will be required.
It is necessary to spray weeds with this mixture in the heat or when the sun is bright, warm, and rain is not expected for a long time or within the next day. Just sprinkle the weeds in your garden with this blend in the morning and look at them in the evening. The result will delight you.
Conclusion
It isn’t easy to imagine a cozy home without your garden or a landscaped area where you can enjoy a beautiful picture and unity with nature. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to create such an “oasis.” A beautiful garden is the result of a lot of effort and time. Plants need quality and regular care. However, it’s worth it as we truly believe that gardening will save the world.
You can transform the garden space yourself, and we hope that our gardening advice will help you with this. Organizing your dream garden is much easier than you think. You just need to take a closer look around and think about what resources you can use. Many useful solutions lie underfoot.
Please share your gardening ideas in the comments below. What interesting tips can you give to save money when setting up a garden?
Bio:
Archie was a builder for more than 40 years. Mainly after his retirement the enthusiastic electrical works in garden and writes for a blog Homemakerguide.com to keep himself occupied. His many years of experience can get you the right tool reviews whether it is a drill, welding machine or so. An impressive fact to note about him is that almost everything in his house is a representation of his skills made by his hands.