The most expensive thing in your garden this year might be something you got for free. A truckload of “free” manure can carry a weedkiller that curls every tomato it touches, and the clump of groundcover a neighbor hands over the fence may be a plant your state has banned from being shared at all.
Meanwhile, the genuinely free stuff gets thrown away. Extension agents watch it happen every fall: homeowners rake leaves to the curb, then drive to the garden center in spring to buy mulch. Gardeners pay premium prices for fertilizer, for nursery transplants of crops that grow just as fast from a packet, and for tools they use one weekend a year. Even Nicole Burke of Gardenary admits her first raised bed kitchen garden cost more than $2,500.
Getting this right pays. The National Gardening Association estimated that an average 600 square foot food garden produces about $600 worth of vegetables on roughly $70 of spending. And fall is the time that sets next year’s budget. Leaves, seeds, perennial divisions, and clearance plants are all available right now, and the window closes when the ground freezes.
Whether you’ve gardened for 40 years or four, the smartest ways to save money in the garden aren’t about buying cheaper. They’re about knowing what to stop buying altogether, and which “free” deals to walk away from.
1. Stop Bagging Leaves and Buying Mulch Next Spring
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Run the mower over fallen leaves a couple of times and spread them on your beds; Penn State Extension notes shredded leaves moderate soil temperature, hold moisture, and suppress weeds. NC State Extension calls leaf mulch “compost waiting to happen” and encourages gardeners without trees to rescue the bags neighbors leave at the curb. Local arborists often drop off wood chips free, too. One gardener and writer, Zero Waste Chef, estimated her roughly 20-cubic-yard delivery would have cost about $1,000.
2. Stop Paying Premium Prices for Fertilizer
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Nicole Burke of Gardenary did the math on a popular liquid plant food and found it worked out to about $36.98 a gallon, pricier than gasoline. Her verdict is blunt: “none of those synthetic fertilizers in brightly colored packages are necessary.” A backyard pile of leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps makes free compost, and Joe Lamp’l of Joe Gardener says a three-bay bin built from discarded shipping pallets costs about as much as a box of screws.
3. Never Take Free Manure Without Asking What the Animals Ate
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
This is the villain hiding in the frugal gardener’s favorite tip. Certain pasture and hay herbicides, including aminopyralid and picloram, pass through livestock and can survive composting, according to UF/IFAS Extension, which lists tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, and squash among the most sensitive crops. Worse, UF/IFAS warns, “contaminated manure looks and smells normal.” Ask the owner what the animals ate, and then run the simple test NC State Extension describes: plant a few bean or pea seeds in pots of the material and watch three to four weeks for twisted, stunted growth.
4. Stop Buying Perennials You Could Divide This Month
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Most gardeners already own next year’s plants. As University of Maryland Extension’s Annette Cormany puts it, “gardeners are generous souls,” and she notes most perennials and bulbs should be divided about every three years, turning one clump into several free plants. Timing matters: Penn State Extension recommends fall division between mid-September and mid-October, allowing about six weeks of root growth before the ground freezes.
5. Don’t Accept Every Free Plant Your Neighbor Offers
File Photo. Image Credit: Ana Jovanovski on Unsplash.
Some plants neighbors give away most happily are illegal to share in parts of the country. Massachusetts bans the “sale, import, trade, purchase, distribution, propagation” of plants on its Prohibited Plant List, which includes creeping Jenny, goutweed, yellow iris, forget-me-not, burning bush, and Japanese barberry. The surprise? Creeping Jenny still appears in national money-saving roundups, including Better Homes & Gardens, as a budget groundcover. Before you swap, check your state’s invasive plant list; nothing sours a friendship like gifting a plant that swallows their yard.
6. Stop Paying Full Price at the Garden Center
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Fall is clearance season. Better Homes & Gardens notes perennials and woody plants are often discounted in late summer, and says tired-looking perennials with healthy foliage are a bargain that performs next year. University of Maryland Extension adds that late fall brings bargain plants and supplies. The insider move comes from Joe Lamp’l: “Get to know the nursery manager and become their best friend.” He credits those relationships with saving him thousands of dollars in markdowns and first dibs.
7. Stop Buying Transplants of Crops That Grow Fast From Seed
Image Credit: Elena Ebinger at Shutterstock.
“Never buy plants that have large seeds like cucumbers, squash, melons, corn or beans,” advised Marco Fonseca, then the Master Gardener coordinator for University of Georgia Extension, because the seeds catch up just as fast. Gardenary’s Burke once spotted four bush bean plants in a single pot for $19.98. Save seed this October, too: George Weigel, writing in Carolina Country, notes open-pollinated heirlooms can supply years of plants from one purchase, and most packet seed stays good two or more years stored cool and dry. Your grandmother’s envelopes of saved bean seed weren’t sentimental; they were a budget.
8. Stop Buying Tools You’ll Use Once (and Never Take This Free Lumber)
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
“There’s no reason everyone in the neighborhood has to have their own tiller,” says Better Homes & Gardens, which suggests neighbors split a $150 aerator rental so each pays under $50. Estate sales and thrift stores are full of older, well-made hand tools. One freebie to refuse: old pressure-treated lumber. According to the EPA, manufacturers canceled virtually all residential uses of arsenic-based CCA wood preservative effective December 31, 2003, which is why Jill McSheehy of The Beginner’s Garden only reuses treated fencing made after that date.
9. Don’t Put Out a Rain Barrel Before You Check the Rules
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Joe Lamp’l notes food-grade barrels are often available from beverage companies and food distributors for $5 to $20, a fraction of retail. But rain barrels are regulated in some states. In Colorado, Colorado State University Extension explains that households may use no more than two barrels totaling 110 gallons, with sealable lids, for outdoor use only; Douglas County notes the state law also bars HOAs from prohibiting them. Check your state and HOA rules first. And this month, drain yours: CSU Extension in Pueblo County advises, “You should always remove the rain barrel in the fall.”
The Smartest Ways to Save Money in the Garden Start With Saying No
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
When Joe Lamp’l took a challenge to feed his family of four all summer on a garden that cost $25 or less, he finished with $9.95 to spare, spending only on seed starting mix and two tomato plants. He didn’t buy cheaper. He bought less, and he knew which free things were worth taking. That’s the whole secret. Say yes to leaves, divisions, and seed. Say no to mystery manure, banned “gifts,” and gadgets you’ll use once. Next spring, your wallet and your garden will both look better for it.
Read More
Is Your Garden Hurting You? 9 Tools Doctors Say Could Save Your Joints
Ten Companion Plants Your Peppers Need For A Successful Growing Season
Want more articles like this one? Give us a follow on Yahoo
Comments are closed.