Gardening is a very popular and potentially inexpensive pastime. However, if you’re not careful how you spend your gardening budget, you could run out of money fairly quickly. Instead of wishing you had the money for the latest in garden gadgets and a wide variety of fancy plants, think of ways to cut costs and make the most of what you do have. The trick is to choose items that are discounted or less expensive when it comes to the plants you grow, and to try do-it-yourself projects for some gardening accessories. The following are a few ideas for how to improve your garden without spending too much.
Build your own trellis for growing vines: Whether Cucumber or Clematis, a trellis can be a great way to showcase the vines you grow. Purchasing a pre-made trellis is often expensive. A better option is to make your own bamboo trellis. With only a few items you can have a beautiful and sturdy trellis. You’ll need lashing cord, a hand saw, a tape measure, a pencil, and several canes of bamboo. The steps are fairly simple, but require some accurate measuring of the bamboo canes prior to cutting them – envision how expansive you want the final masterpiece to be and plan for that early on. After you have cut them to the appropriate size, you’ll use the lashing cord to lash them together. Then your trellis is ready for your garden.
Grow vegetables from seed: Growing your own vegetables from seed is much less expensive than starting from a potted plant. Starting from seed can be intimidating, however. Luckily there are some vegetables that are very easy to grow from seed and will almost guarantee success, even to the novice gardener. Treehugger.com lists five vegetables that you can easily start from seed:
- Beans
- Chard
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Radishes
These vegetables are sure to increase your confidence in gardening because they are so easy to grow. The instructions on the seed packet will give you the best information about when to plant and harvest.
Choose perennials instead of annuals: The University of Delaware recently published an article, which states that choosing a lot of annuals for your garden can be really expensive since you will have to replace them every year. Instead, a mix of perennials will give you variety, and will cut costs since they keep coming up on their own year after year.
Gardeners everywhere may find their passion for plants causing them to make extra, unnecessary purchases in their search for the perfect garden. But having a pleasing and useful garden doesn’t have to mean spending lots of money. Instead, take the time to find inexpensive plants and easy, low-cost projects that will enhance the garden you already have.
Urban Farmer and friend of SCLT Than Wood shares a promising update about working with the city to secure a new plot of land to continue farming in Providence:
From Seed to Fruit 