A garden’s lessons for growing your money

Soil, sun, water and seed: The ingredients of a garden are simple, but the final product is never guaranteed. Willing a plot of land into a vibrant state of bloom takes intention, knowhow and no small amount of trial and error.

Like many people staying at home, I spent much of the past year tending to the soil of my yard and crafting a garden oasis of my own imagination. The work wasn’t easy, and I’m sure many now-dead plants wish that I’d been a little more proficient.

But as my vision came to life – and I realized the care that this new hobby requires – I saw parallels between tending to a garden and handling finances with intentionality. Here’s what my garden taught me about managing money.

Have a vision. Before you put a spade into the ground – or sign up for a new financial instrument – define what you want to accomplish. Like a garden, your financial future can be a reflection of your passions and priorities.

“There are no rules – it’s your garden,” says Brooke Edmunds, associate professor of community horticulture with Oregon State University Extension. “Don’t be afraid to try new things. You’ll get so much joy out of the pride of growing things yourself.”

How you manage your money is an individual endeavor, too. “When imagining your goals, a good jumping-off point is defining your needs and your wants and what you value,” says Lacey Langford, a North Carolina-based financial

hcoach. “Not everyone values the same thing. Some people might value a nice home or a nice car or retirement savings more.”

Understand that big goals can take years to accomplish. “Take the longview approach,” Edmunds says. “It really takes five years or so to really see how plants are and to learn your garden space.”

Make growth easy. With goals defined, dig in and establish the right foundation for growth.

In a garden, this step means testing the soil to determine if it has the right components to support your specific plants. Developing the right soil can make the difference between a season of vigorous growth and a lackluster performance.

When it comes to managing money, think of the fundamentals – things like income, expenses and savings, as well as your attitudes and behavior toward money – as the soil. Your ambitions are the plants you put into the ground, hoping they’ll take root and thrive. Upon inspection, you may find that you’re primed for growth or that the soil needs amending.

Adjusting financial habits to meet an ambitious savings goal, like a down payment on a house, is one example. If you’re not able to save much after covering your current expenses, get creative and trim expenses or increase your income.

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