By Karen Weir-Jimerson
Everyone likes to save money. If you’re a gardener, there are lots of easy ways to trim the cost of gardening projects. With some simple tips, you can water less, weed less, cut down on herbicide use, and turn your landscape into a asset that increases your property values. Here are ten easy ways to save money gardening indoors and out.
1. Compost
Making compost is easy and it’s a great way to recycle your vegetable and yard trimmings, transforming them into free fertilizer for your garden. With a compost bin or a small area of your yard where you can toss trimmings, you can create nutrient rich compost that you can spread on top of the soil in your yard to nourish your plants naturally. Read more about how to compost.
2. Mulch
Mulching your garden with a thick layer of shredded bark, pine needles, or other material keep your plants healthy because it keeps the soil temperature and moisture level consistent. A nice side benefit is that mulch also helps suppress weed growth, eliminating the need for buying herbicide weed killers. (Which saves money!) Plus, mulch is a natural soil amendment and adds nutrients to the soil. More nutritious soil means lusher plants and more beautiful flowers. Learn more about which types of mulches are best and how to use them.
3. Keep Your Plants Healthy
Healthy plants save you money in a variety of ways. For example, perennials come back year after year, getting bigger and filling in your landscape with lushness and beauty. Healthy plants not only increase in size, but they also live longer, so you don’t have to replace them (which, of course, saves you cash). Editing your yard also saves money: pruning, trimming, and keeping plants in scale helps keep plants more healthy. Making sure plants have enough water is also a way to keep them in top shape. Read more about watering plants indoors and out.
4. Propagate New Houseplants
Some houseplants are so easy to propagate, that you can save money by making your own cuttings and growing new plants for gifts for family and friends. Some plants are easily started in water, where they grow roots and can be replanted in soil. Read more about how to make new plants. You can also divide houseplants, making a number of small plants from a larger one. Here is how to divide houseplants (and which plants divide the easiest!).
5. Divide Perennials
Perennials come back every year, getting bigger. Over time some perennials need to be divided in order to keep them healthy. (This also means that you make more plants, which you can plant in other areas of your yard and landscape.) These, of course, are free plants. Perennials that require dividing as they mature include hosta and daylily, and others. See how to divide perennials here.
6. Buy Plants in Bulk
If you have a large area to fill with blooming annuals, buying flats of plants may be the most economical way to get a mass of color for a minimum of cash.
7. Pick the Right Plants
When you buy plants, it’s important that you plant them in the right light and area in your yard so that they will look their best, giving you a return on your investment. Here are other tips about how to plant the right species in your yard so that you don't make costly mistakes.
8. Use Indoor Plants Outdoors in Summer
If you have a lot of indoor plants, consider using them outdoors on screen porches and patios once the weather warms up. Large plants such as monstera, majesty palms, and schefflera look beautiful on patios and terraces, adding instant tropical allure. See how your indoor plants can add big bold personality to outdoor spaces.
9. Make Your Own Planter
Save some cash by making your own planter using paving stones you can pick up at any home improvement store. With some landscaping adhesive, you can stack and glue your way to cool containers. Because stone warms up when sitting in direct sun, heat-loving varieties such as angelonia, lantana, and succulents are good planting choices. See how to build a planter.
10. Save Money With Landscaping
The way you use plants in your yard and landscape can save money in heating and cooling costs. Plus just by sprucing up your landscape can make you money by improving curb appeal and upping the value of your home. Planting trees, shrubs, and perennials can bring a return on investment of 100 percent or more. See how sprucing up your yard may also make you cash.
