GARDENING ON A BUDGET
As we all become a little more aware of our monthly outgoings, gardening could easily become an expensive hobby that is difficult to maintain. For some, it is already a world that is difficult to embrace if you don’t have the financial means; plants can be costly, not to mention tools, books and compost.
Thankfully, there are a few things we can do to get the best possible value for our money.
Make your own compost - if you are prepared to wait, making your own compost can be very satisfying. You will need a dedicated space in the garden and something to retain the waste while it rots. Proprietory bins can be bought, but it is also possible to create a container from an old dustbin, timber (eg. palettes) or old bricks. Ideally, you want somewhere that will heat up sufficiently and covered so that it doesn’t get too wet. My recommendation is to only add garden waste, so as not to attract furry friends and add cardboard every so often to add in some carbon and stop the compost becoming sludge. Also, remember to turn it over with a fork every now and again.
Make your own leafmold - even easier than compost to make, if you have neighbouring trees that fill your garden with leaves every autumn then consider this a bonus! Leafmold is great to add into soil for organic matter. Just collect in bin bags, create a few holes in the side with a garden fork and leave in a quiet corner to rot. Check after a year to see if the leaves have biodegraded down to a compost-like substance.
Grow from seed - it’s exciting to see a plant in your garden that you have nurtured from seed, so like many things in nature, if you are prepared to wait then you will be rewarded. Even in a small seed tray, you can plant four or five varieties. Plants such as snapdragons and verbascum grow remarkably quickly and can be planted out in the garden within the year. Even something like sage will form a shrubby plant fairly quickly and can be used as an evergreen backdrop for colour. Lavender will take a couple of years but will get there eventually.
Make your own pots - for those seedlings you’ve just planted, you’ll need something to contain them in once they are big enough to handle. You can get creative by making pots from containers such as yoghurt cartons - just remember drainage holes! If you want to avoid plastic then a short-term container can be created from a toilet roll. Just cut around five slits about 1cm long in one end and push them all into the tube to form a ‘bottom’. The card can even be planted into the ground once the plant is big enough as it will biodegrade.
Choose perennials and shrubs - whether looking at seeds or at the garden centre, perennials and shrubs might be more expensive in the short-term but will last for years. So if you are prepared to meet the initial upfront cost, it will reduce any plant costs over time. Certain bulbs, which are repeat flowering and will spread over time, can also be very cost effective. Think snowdrops, daffodils, crocus…
Plant swap - perhaps you and a friend have spare seedlings you can swap or may be their foxglove and your verbena have spread a few too many seedlings around the border. These can be dug up, potted on and swapped for something else. Plants for free! Some local areas may have plant swap groups on social media, where people offer plants for free or in exchange for something else.
Local plant sales - these are a great way to get plants at low prices. Often they may be at a local church, school or organisation, so you’ll be supporting a local initiative at the same time. In my area then we have the John Innes Society, who hold a plant sale twice a year, plus a plant stall at the local school summer fair.
Discount stand - check out the discount stand at the local garden centre. Very often there will be cheap plants there that are either out of season, and therefore not looking their best, or just need a bit of TLC. Cheap house plants can be found in the same way. Once they are nursed back to health then they will make a valuable addition to any home or garden.
Equipment share - buying gardening equipment can be expensive, especially if you are starting from scratch. Perhaps you and a friend can split the costs by sharing equipment. Just make sure things like secateurs are cleaned between gardens. A general purpose anti-bacterial spray can be used for this.
Tackle one area at a time - if your garden is large, you feel overwhelmed or you just don’t have the budget to do the garden all at once then my advice would be to look at one area at a time. It’s good to have an overview in mind of how the garden will eventually look and very often, as a designer, I’m asked to provide a master plan for clients to follow over a number of years, rather than the job being done straight away. With this in mind, you can then prioritise an area, perhaps somewhere you can see from a window or where you’ll sit in the summer and then take it from there.