Prudent Penny: Landscaping on the Cheap

It seems appropriate to write this post since I just finished tilling and furrowing the main garden. I might never regain the use of my limbs. Oy!

Aside from painful, gardening can be very expensive. The only thing you shouldn't skimp on is your tools. You don't want your tools breaking, splitting or hurting you right in the middle of a job. Given a choice, go for fiberglass handles rather than wood, and good goat or cow hide gloves rather than cloth. You'll save yourself blisters.

Plants

• Craigslist is always giving away flowers and plants.

• Admire your neighbor's bulbs and I'll bet she'll offer you some the next time she's dividing them.

• Buy discounted seeds at the end of the season and store them in the fridge until you're ready to plant next year. Don't forget to throw in some desiccant.

• Buy trees at the very beginning of the season. Many nurseries have sales to kick off the season.

• Get to know your local nursery people by name. Mine almost always throws in an extra plant every time I shop there.

 • Get your seed potatoes and garlic from the grocery store. Some producers apply anti-sprout chemicals on their produce, but mine have always sprouted. If in doubt, get your starters from a local farmer's market.

• You can start new tomato plants by planting cuttings. Many times toward the end of the season, I'll layer a tomato vine under some dirt. within a few days it'll start to produce roots. I give it a few weeks then snip it off the main plant. Now I have a brand new tomato plant to pot or put in the ground.

• By the way, when you plant your tomatoes, plant them sideways with only the top showing. Pinch off the leaves and bury the stalk lengthwise. It'll strengthen the plant by producing a bigger root structure.

Materials

• Compost. Even if it's nothing more than a little pile in the back of your yard, compost what you can. Your soil will love you for it. And it's free.

• Troll your local Home Depot, Lowe's, or other mega-mart for ripped bags of soil, compost, peat moss, or rocks.

My stores regularly mark them down to half price, but at the end of the season, I usually get the ripped bags of material for a quarter a piece. You usually have to ask someone to give you the discount. There are no sale signs and no one volunteers this information.

• Buy weed barrier matting at yard sales. People always get rid of their leftovers and there's usually quite a bit of it left over.

• Leftover brick and stone are often available for free on Craigslist. Please be careful hauling these items. Space them out evenly in your truck because they are heavier than they look. You might need to make multiple trips to carry the load safely. I would love to find some brick near me. Most of the brick on Craigslist is in the big city--too far for me.

Miscellanea

• Plan your landscaping. This way when a deal comes up you'll know what you need.

• Go in with your friends to buy seeds or bulbs if you don't need that many all by yourself.

• Join seed exchange sites. Here's one place to try.

Have you tried any of these tips? Is there anything you can add? 

Next year I think I'm going to turn my place into a homesteading dude ranch so I can get some help in the garden. LOL. Every muscle in my body hurts. But the hard part is done. Now the fun begins.

What's everyone doing this weekend?