10 Tips to Gardening on a Budget

A global pandemic has engulfed the world and we are all in a temporary state of lockdown. In times like these, it is important to understand the crucial bond between humans and the flora & fauna around us. 

During the lockdown, it is nearly impossible to go out for even small walks in the neighborhood. However, there are still existing ways to get familiarized with your local environment. One of the best ways is to grow and nurture plants in your home. How can you manage gardening without breaking your budget? 

1. Plan your garden ahead of time. You don’t go grocery shopping without a list (or without eating ahead of time), don’t buy plants without a plan. 

2. Grow plants from seeds instead of buying them already germinated.

This requires more attention & work to make sure the seeds stay moist, but it is much cheaper. You can buy many, MANY seeds for a fraction of the cost to buying 3-6 plants. Also, at most hardware stores, you can buy organic & heirloom seeds.  

If you plant heirloom seeds, you can save some of the harvest for seeds so you don’t have to buy more seeds for the future. 

3. Get “give-away” plants from friends & family. 

4. Get rooting hormone to use on cuttings you love in the wild or from friends/family. 

5. Recycle & reuse old containers to plant new plants. 

Kitchen containers like old coffee grind containers, plastic salad boxes, tin cans, yogurt containers, or soda bottles make great plant starters. 

Wine bottles can be used as upside-down watering containers. 

Plastic milk containers with holes poked in the lid can be used as a watering can. 

Repaint old pots to spice things up instead of buying new, expensive containers. 

6. Buy plants from the “sale” rack at the garden store. 

7. Buy perennials instead of annuals. You don’t have to buy all new plants every Single Year. And actually, perennials tend to multiple & spread, so you can split them & get more out of them later. 

8. Buy from local, family-owned nurseries. 
A lot of times, you can get plants that are just as good or better-quality than garden stores for A LOT cheaper. 

Larger, local nurseries are typically geared towards landscapers who are trying to buy in bulk = lower prices. 

Need mulch? Buy bulk from a mulching landscape company. Getting it by the truckload makes it much cheaper. 

When the power company comes through to trim back trees, volunteer to take their tree mulch= it’ll be TONS of mulch…for FREEEEE! 

9. Compost! Compost! Compost!  

Create a compost heap or a bin outside. 

Mix in the leftovers of things you use in the kitchen (**Nothing meaty/greasy/cooked/woody- these take too long to decompose or attract animals & you don’t want that!) 

Fruit & Veggie shavings/peels 

Grass cuttings 

Dirt 

Fur that’s been vacuumed up 

Pine straw 

Ashes 

10. Use what you already have. 

Don’t go out & buy new garden stones- use big rocks you (or your friends/family) find on your own property 

Use cut down tree limbs to make fence posts for your garden 

Use cut down tree trunks as pots- cut out center sections of them, fill with dirt, & plant beauties in it to add a little natural beauty to your garden. 

If you have pine trees or hard-wood trees, use what they shed for mulch…don’t buy new mulch. 

Gardening doesn’t have to be insanely expensive.

Enjoy the garden without breaking the bank!