Low-budget gardening — not cheap, just careful
If you love gardening and it's at the bottom of the list when it's time to dispense funds from a limited budget that is food, mortgage payments or phone plans for teenagers, then consider dirt-cheap gardening — or, if you prefer, gardening for the frugal. Better still, call it smart in a world where practising the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) is considered a virtue.
Gardening is the ideal place to practice the above. Not only can it save you a ton of money, but you'll also be helping the planet, and everyone knows it needs all the help it can get.
Begin indoors by extending the life of plastic containers before they reach the blue box. Blue box day is a treasure hunt for all kinds of garden stuff. Those 20-litre water bottles with the bottom cut out make an excellent cloche to protect young plants when there’s a risk of frost.
There are also surprising finds on garbage day such as decorative planters that someone tired of. I see coils of hose that only need a new end. Repair is another R to value. Garden tools are tossed out when downsizing is underway. While out curb shopping, scoop any old snow shovels; the handles are usually in perfect shape and make great replacement handles for the spade you broke trying to lever a rock out of the garden. Afraid of being seen as a scavenger? It’s a way of to survive in parts of the world. Wear a mask if it helps, but don’t stop by a bank on the way home.
Before those garden items make it to the curb, they pass through the garage sale stage. Garage sales are a major source of planters. Even an old suitcase can be filled with flowers — have plants, will travel — and I don't know why, but wicker baskets seem to end up in driveways in quantities to rival the vast number of VCRs and vintage stereo systems from the ’80s. Line the baskets with plastic and you'll have a lovely planter that will do at least a couple of seasons.
Depending on the number of fashionable planters you bring home from the garage sale trip, it can be pricey when you come to fill them with potting soil. Garden soil is fine, but it may need lightening for better drainage if it’s clay-based. Add sand or perlite to ensure it drains freely. Coir or peat moss will help retain moisture. Rather than peat moss, there is a more environmentally friendly medium produced with wood fibre.
Beyond planters for work in the garden, you will need a spade to dig or shovel the soil, but one trip past the tool racks at the garden centre can be frightening for the new gardener — “You mean I need all that stuff just to grow a few plants?” No. Garden tools are becoming like workshop tools/toys — a different one for every conceivable project or task. You'll get by surprisingly well with a minimum of a spade, a rake, a hoe, a trowel and pruners. The spade is important for planting, but regular digging of flower or veggie beds can be reduced by top dressing with compost or leaves and letting the worms do all the work, and compost is usually free from most municipalities.
Plants for your pots or garden are the easiest. Grow your own from seeds or watch for plant swaps. Gardeners are constantly digging and dividing plants or sharing seeds and are eager to see them go to a good home.
Remember, too, when buying plants, that small trees and shrubs will eventually grow into big trees and shrubs, but will cost much less. Be a real gardener — be patient and be resourceful, and that’s another R.