Despite these not-so-rosy economic times, your garden can still burst with colour this summer. All it takes is some planning, penny-pinching and creativity.
To learn more about pruning back gardening costs, I chatted with three local botanical experts. All offered fantastic cost-cutting advice. Here’s what Jeanette Garrett of Garrett’s Farm Market and Greenhouses, Etti Mountain of Botanix Garden Centre, and Sue Lay of Dragon Sown Gardening had to say about budget gardening:
Jeanette Garrett
Garrett’s Farm Market and Greenhouses
Plan first, buy later: Plenty of cash can be saved when you only buy what you need.
Right plant, right place: Only buy plants suited to our area’s hardiness zone (5 or lower), otherwise you’re throwing money away. Also, pay attention to plant habits and suitability. In other words, don’t put shade plants in full sun, or terrain plants in containers. They won’t survive and your money will be lost.
Buy sun and heat tolerant plants: You’ll lower your water bill, and enjoy more success with less effort. For perennials, choose native species. Great choices include echinacea, rudbeckia, and various native grasses. For annuals, buy proven winners. These colourful flowers have undergone rigorous testing and are tolerant for our hot and dry summers. Good choices include diamond frost euphorbia, purslane, and million bells
Don’t buy problems: Buy plants that are healthy, vigorous, bug free and have a good root system.
Educate yourself: Before heading off to the gardening centre, look around and see what’s growing in your neighbours’ gardens. If it’s growing in your community, chances are it will thrive for you. Taking courses, speaking with local garden centre staff, visiting your local library or watching gardening television programs can also be informative.
Etti Mountain
Garden Centre Manager Botanix
Plant a vegetable garden: Not only will it help your wallet it will feed you emotionally, organically, and physically. With the local food movement, people also want to tend to their crops these days. Here are some basic rules: start small because even small crops can have large yields, choose an area with at least six hours of direct sunlight per day, and lastly, enrich your soil with anything organic (such as compost, manure or bone meal).
Too late to start an edible garden from seed?: No worries, many garden centres sell potted vegetables and fruits. Lastly, growing your own herbs also saves money. If you dry them in the fall, they can be used all winter long.
Plant shade trees: By providing year-round insulation, planting trees is the green way to reduce heating and A/C bills. Here’s how it works: when you plant deciduous trees on the south side of your house, they give shade in the summer. In the winter, they allow sunshine through the branches to warm up the home.
What trees do you plant?: That depends upon the size of your property. Maple and oak work best for larger properties, while hawthorn or service berry are more suited to smaller lots. Unless you have a massive property, trees with a maturation size of 15 to 20 feet are best.
Think less annuals, more perennials: We love annuals for containers and planters, but it makes better economical sense to invest in renewable plants for the garden. Virtually all perennials, such as echinacea, hosta, shasta daisy, and black-eyed Susan can be split into three or four new plants in just a few years (allowing you to start a new garden for free).
Sue Ley, owner/gardener
Dragon Sown Gardening
Work together: Gardening budgets are drastically reduced when people co-operate. For example, split soil deliveries or rototiller rentals with neighbours. Borrowing equipment from friends also saves cash.
Avoid expensive fertilizers: Get a load of compost from the City of Barrie. You’ll save money and the environment will thank you for it.
Swap plants or take advantage of community plant sales: Community plant swaps and sales are a fantastic way to save money on divisions, starts and cuttings. Contact a local horticultural society for more information. Better yet, trade with friends for free plants.
Practice patience: Save cash by buying smaller plants. Young plants will also acclimatize better than larger (more expensive) plants. On that note, buying plants at end-of-season sales also saves money.
Create your own planters: Planters are beautiful, but a large urn can easily set you back $50. Reduce costs with perennials (even cheaper if you glean from your own garden). For a splash of colour, try echinacea or brown-eyed Susan. For greenery, use hosta or ivy. In the fall, plant the perennials back in the garden for next year. You can still add some annuals (such as wave petunias), but using perennials will substantially reduce costs.
Plants seeds: For amazingly inexpensive and colourful window boxes, try these fast-germinating seeds: purple nasturtium, marigold, and nigella. For seeds you can sow directly into the ground, try cosmos, and various types of sunflowers.
Recycle and Reuse: Rather than investing big bucks on fancy pots or urns, make clever use of castoffs. An old boot, or bucket can work if it’s big enough and has drainage holes. Reclaimed materials like brick also work well for garden projects.
The Dirt on Budget Gardening
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