20 secrets to a flourishing frugal garden
By Jenny
C. McCune • Bankrate.com
Any gardener knows that it takes a lot more than
a green thumb to get plants to grow. But you don't necessarily have
to spend a fortune at the local nursery to ensure your plants prosper.
These 20 tips can keep your flower beds and bank account
flourishing.
1. Know what will grow well in the area.
2. Get free advice.
3. Start from scratch.
4. Think small.
5. Plant perennials.
6. Go bare.
7. Get
creative with containers.
8. Rent
in bulk.
9. Get
it on sale, but be careful.
10. Buy
used tools.
11. Make
your own compost.
12. Get
low-cost or free mulch.
13. Practice
selective pest control.
14. Use
home remedies for pest and weed control.
15. Swap
plants with your neighbors.
16. Look
for landscaping makeovers.
17. Exchange
time for cost.
18. Buy
generic.
19. Plant
for energy conservation.
20. Be
frugal, not cheap.
1. Know what will grow well in
the area.
Bob Gough, a professor of horticulture and an extension horticulture
specialist at Montana State University in Bozeman, has watched the
frustration of transplanted gardeners. "We have so many people
moving to Bozeman who think that what grows well in Baton Rouge
will grow well here," he says. "They spend exorbitant
amounts of money and then everything dies."
Even if you've lived in the same area for years, do
your homework and find out what will thrive and survive in your
soil and climate. Similarly, determine what plants are hardier so
you don't spend a lot of time and money battling vermin or insects.
2. Get free advice.
You don't have to pay for professional planting help. Check
in with your county's agricultural extension office. It has information
on what to grow, what climate zone your home is in and the length
of your growing season.
3. Start from scratch.
Grow plants from seeds or cuttings rather than buying them.
For even more savings, collect seeds from your own or a neighbor's
plants. Not only is it economical, but you'll probably be rewarded
with more variety.
But before you become a regular Johnny Appleseed,
consider the time and effort of growing from seeds and do so only
when practical. If the seeds require a lot of tender loving care,
such as special lights and other paraphernalia, it might ultimately
be cheaper to buy plants.
Gough, for example, has found that growing tomato
plants from scratch just won't work in Montana's extremely short
growing season. By the time the tomato seedlings are ready to be
planted in the garden, there aren't enough cultivation days left
for the plants to bear fruit.
4. Think small.
If you do opt for plants, think small rather than big, says
Lance Walheim, a horticulturist and spokesman for the Bayer Advanced
line of fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. More mature plants,
he notes, cost more.
5. Plant perennials.
Perennials bloom year-in and year-out, whereas annuals bloom
once and that's it. "That will make you avoid replanting every
spring," Walheim says.
6. Go bare.
Bare roots, that is. When a plant is going from the garden
shop to your backyard, don't waste money on its container. Instead,
buy bushes and trees "au naturel," Walheim says. A burlap
wrap will do fine for the short trip home.
|
