“GardenGurlie86 RT @MoneyHacker-Does anyone have any helpful money saving tips for gardening?”
I have a small garden in my home with full of flowers and required vegetables to my family. This garden is in my village home thus I am not a full time gardener, but whenever I am there for a vocation, I will be there in that garden for considerable amount of time because I love it. If I say truth, we never spend more money on this garden. In my experience, I have found the money lose on garden happens from three ways – water, fertilizers and pesticides. If the gardener found her own way to arrange or make these things intelligently, would help to save huge money.
Type of garden would be different for different people. However, a small start up with increasing the size of garden, slowly, would be the right approach. Understand, if watch carefully, one can easily find most of the items required to maintain a garden available around our home itself. Use of such would help to save lots of time and money. As said earlier, watering, pesticides and fertilizers are the major money losing elements in a garden. Intelligent use of water, self made composts and organic pesticides are the best reply to such lose possibilities.
1. If it is a vegetable garden, enquire and collect quality seeds from relatives, neighbors or friends, before you move to the next shop
2. Once if you plan to purchase plants, purchase smaller plants. This would be cheaper than buying large plant.
3. Before ordering soil to your garden, check the quality of soil. Using fertilizers and composts sometime convert your soil to a fabulous one that is suitable for any garden.
4. Use bio-gradable items like news papers than buying costliest landscaping fabrics..
5. Use plastic cake containers, cheap old plant trays from garden centers, yoghurt cups with clear lids, cardboard egg cartons, old ice trays, empty plastic film cans to grow and store seeds cost effectively. They are excellent to use for such.
6. Watering garden is important. Convert dish washing water, water from washing machines if uses biogradable soaps, water from car washing, water from shower all are good to water your garden in a cost effective way. Before using municipal water, identify those options and utilize maximum to save lots of money.
7. Have a facility or make your own to store rain water in the garden itself. This would meet the water requirements to a great extend.
8. Installing drip irrigation is an excellent way to save water, money and helps watering plants systematically.
9. Take the advantage from Mulch to keep your garden always moisture and prevent losing lots of water. Creating a bed using leaves in the summer as well as rainy season help to sustains required water in garden. Shredded papers from office, paper and card boards available in the home can use to mulch the garden or the plan to a great extend.
10. Have your own compost making system. Food, kitchen, vegetable wastes and garden wastes all can be used to create quality compost. Any organic items around your home can easily convert to compost. Get knowledge on how to create compost in home. You may then never require buying fertilizers by spending money.
11. To avoid over-fertilizing seedlings and young plants, save the water left over from steaming or boiling vegetables, transfer it to a clean spray bottle and sprits it on leaves once a week for a light foliar feeding.
12. Learn how to control pests in garden organically than using chemicals. Chemicals are harmful and required to buy from outside. Organic pest control system can make in home and cost would be very less and effective.
13. Borrow or rent specialized tools from friends, relatives or neighbors. Always prefer second-hand garden tools that may available in the market as cheap as possible but sometimes with superior quality.
14. Plan your garden with seasonal as well as evergreen plants or vegetables. Arrange space properly to avoid any future mess ups.
15. Start a neighborhood garden community. Share seeds and seedlings with friends and neighbors. Each family would have their own specializations and knowledge. There would be plenty to share for the betterment of all in the community. You can even save the money of buying tools, composts, pesticides by sharing the same with others too..
16. Always prefer Drought-Tolerant Plants and native plants to cut down the requirements of water and fertilizer.
17. Hanging Bird feeders and Nesting Boxes would attract birds to your garden. They are the best natural pest controllers. Take the help of them.
Each of these tips are excellent and highly practicable and would give extra-ordinary results. Gardening is not a full time activity but it is a regular activity that required to spend sufficient time each day with your plants in garden. It is evident that if you love plants, they would also love you and give you wonderful results. Gardening is not only a hobby but a mind refreshing, pleasureful activity if engaged well..
If you have read the above tips and have any best idea to share, please do that as comment hereunder.