Avid gardeners, whether they plant vegetables, flowers or just love landscaping, spend lots of money every year to make their yards and gardens look great. Here are 5 home gardening tips that save money not just this year, but in years to come.
Know Thy Neighbor
If you have neighbors who plant vegetable gardens, then you should ask them what they are planting and plan your own garden around their list. If the family across the street is planting regular old zucchini, then maybe you should plant yellow zucchini instead. We all know that zucchini grows like crazy and a normal garden will have tons to spare. In other words, make your neighborhood gardens like a co-op and share the bounty.
Plant Bulbs and Perennials
You can save a lot of money by planting your flower beds with bulbs and perennials. These types of flowers come up every year without much help from you. Save the annuals for container gardening where you only place pots here and there around your deck or patio. Planting bulbs and perennials may cost a pretty penny up front, but in the long run, it saves you money.
Composting
Composting may seem like a hard thing to do, but once you get it set up, it’s really easy. Compost made from coffee grounds and kitchen scraps will make a much better fertilizer for your gardens than any bag of potting soil you could buy at the store. Potting soil has become really expensive and if you need a lot of it, it can run your garden budget dry in a hurry. Besides, any good gardener knows that recycling is a good thing to do, right? Here is my post on using alternative fertilizing options for your garden.
Use Rocks or Wood Chips for Ground Cover
Like potting soil, mulch can get expensive, even if you purchase it from the big discount stores. Why not try using rocks or wood chips for your ground cover instead. You should use a landscaping fabric like black plastic first and then place your rocks or wood chips on top of that. Landscaping fabric has a second benefit for your gardens, it keeps the weeds from growing. That’s a bonus in itself! If you need an inexpensive way to landscape your yard, here is my post on Landscaping Designs – Ideas4Landscaping Product Review.
Quality Gardening Tools
It is better to spend a little extra money to buy top-quality gardening tools right from the start. When you purchase the cheaper brands to save money, you won’t save a dime because you wind up having to make the same purchases every year. Gardening gloves are a good example. Buy the inexpensive cloth kind and you usually have to replace them before the season is even over. Invest in good gardening tools if you are serious about your gardens and you will save money in the long run.
Buy using these home gardening tips, you will not only save money, but your vegetable garden or flower gardens will look beautiful year in and year out.
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