When it comes to your garden, it can be very easy to think that you need to spend a small fortune to make it look good. The truth is, it does not have to be all that expensive. In fact, with a bit of careful planning and preparation and being a little bit creative, you can have a garden that you can’t wait to spend time in.
Here, we have put together some simple money-saving gardening tips.
Think about what you want before you hit the garden centre
It happens to all of us. We off for a wander around the local garden centre without having a good idea of what it is that we want, much like going to the supermarket without a shopping list. We see all sorts of beautiful flowers and plants, and without thinking it through properly, buy them up.
It isn’t long before we realise our mistakes. Bedding plants are also known as annuals – they literally come up for a few weeks once a year. We then have to do the same process all over again, digging up and replacing them, spending even more money.
Wouldn’t it be more sensible, therefore, to have a clear idea of what you want before you head off and spend your money? If you are hoping to add colour to your borders, find something that it is going to last more than a few weeks. Think about the shapes and colours in your garden, and create a balance of annual bedding plants with year-round perennials and shrubs.
Buy seeds and grow them yourself
A packet of seeds costs just a couple of pounds, if that, and from that, you can get plenty of plants. Instead of buying grown plants, test out your patience and try growing from seed yourself.
It is not as hard as it seems. Sure, growing a huge selection of different plants is much easier if you have a complete greenhouse setup or potting shed. However, even if you do not have access to these, it is more than possible to grow a few plants on a windowsill in a sunny place.
Some are able to self-seed, in that you scatter the seeds in the soil in the garden and let them do their thing. If you are successful – and be aware that self-seeding is not always successful – you will only have to pay out for one packet of seeds once, and they will come back over and over again. Combine that with artificial grass that needs very little maintenance after the initial laydown and you’ve got a low-cost but great garden.
Keep an eye out for freebies
Facebook sales groups and Marketplace, Gumtree, Freecycle, and NextDoor are great places to source a freebie or low-cost tools and equipment. People give away or sell their old gardening tools and wheelbarrows, as well as sometimes offering cuttings from plants that they have grown themselves. Keep a close eye out to see what people are getting rid of. Sure, they might not be perfect, but as long as they do the job properly, it doesn’t really matter, does it?
Zero maintenance lawns
Of course, we must mention the use of artificial grass as a real long term cost saver. No mowing, no feeding or weeding. Affordable to install and (in our case) is good for 20 years. With the added benefit of being 100% recyclable you are not only helping your pocket but helping the environment too.