Gardening On A Budget

 Spring is on its way, and it will soon be time to get out there and start working in the yard and garden. With the economy being how it is, you may not have a lot of money to spend on your garden this year. Money does not have to be an issue when it comes to your garden. There are a lot of ways that you can have a beautiful flower garden, and still save money.

One of the biggest expenses in gardening, at least that I've seen, is plants. Plants are the primary reason for having a garden, but you don't need to pay five dollars and up on plants. You can usually find packages of seeds at your local gardening store for much less. You can start the seeds indoors, and have them ready by the time your garden is ready for planting. To save even more money, don't go and buy new pots to start them in. When you do buy plants, for your garden, save them, and use them for starting seeds. You can also find other cheap options. Used egg cartons would work well for getting your seeds started, or paper cups. Just make sure that you have some drainage holes in the bottom so the water can drain easily.

 If you don't want to spend the money on seeds, just gather some seeds from the plants that you already have. You can take these seeds and plant them, or trade them with friends and family for any flower seeds that they may have. Trading seeds is a good way to get a variety of plants in your garden.

If you already have a few plants established in your garden, you may be able to dig them up, and divide them. Carefully dig them out of the ground, and divide the rootball into two or more parts, depending on how big the plant is. Plant part of it in the original location, and then plant the other half elsewhere in your garden. My wife and I planted some columbine in our garden a couple of years ago, and this year they'll be big enough to divide, and replant elsewhere.

Whether you're buying seeds, or grown plants, look for plants that are native to your region. In general, they'll require less care, and they'll be able to get by on less water as well. And of course, the less water you use on your garden, the lower your water bill will be.

 You don't need to buy compost for your soil, when you can easily make it yourself. You probably have kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and leaves that you can use to make your own compost. Compost improves the soil, loosening it so that the plant roots can grow. It also adds nutrients to to the soil that your plants need to stay healthy.

You don't need a fancy compost maker, all you need is a space where you can make a pile of composting materials. A simple cage made of chicken wire will suffice. Throw in your kitchen scraps, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, just no meat or fat, as it will just turn rancid and stink. Add any leaves, lawn trimmings, or trimmings from your plants to the pile. You'll want to keep the compost pile moist, so spray it down with some water. You want it damp, not wet, so take it easy with the water. Every couple of weeks or so, you'll need to take a pitchfork, and mix things up. You'll want to move everything from the inside of the pile to the outside, and the fresh clippings on the outside to the inside. The compost will be dark brown and crumbly, with an earthy aroma when it's ready to use. Just till it or mix it into the soil.

 Keeping pests and weeds out of your garden is simple enough to do with some household items. Even if money is not an issue, organic pesticides and herbicides are much better to use than the chemicals you'd normally use.

To keep the weeds from growing in the first place, you can sprinkle your garden with cornmeal. Cornmeal acts as a pre-emergent herbicide, meaning that it prevents the seeds from growing. This means weeds, as well as any flower seeds or any other seeds that you may have planted. Established plants won't be harmed, just the seeds. If you do use cornmeal to kill weeds, then you can plant your own seeds in the area after about 6 weeks. Mulching your flowerbeds will help to prevent weeds from growing in the first place. Just spread an inch or two of leaves or lawn clippings around your plants. Old newspapers will also make an effective mulch. Spread the newspapers around the flowerbed, and moisten them with water, then cover them with some lawn clippings or leaves. The mulch will keep the light from reaching the weed seeds, and prevent them from growing. Mulch has the additional benefit of holding water in the soil, so you will need to water less frequently.

 Vinegar is an effective weed killer. Simply spray some onto the weeds, and in a day or two, they'll dry up and die. Vinegar will kill the weeds, but it will also kill other plants as well, so be careful how you use it. Boiling water is another effective weed killer. Pour some on, and it will pretty much cook the weed and kill it. Again, boiling water doesn't discriminate between weeds and other plants so be careful with it.

Probably one of the most effective ways to get rid of weeds, that won't harm your plants, is to just get down on your hands and knees, and pull them out. You can use a small, handheld cultivator to loosen up the soil around the roots, and then just pull the weeds out. If there are no seeds, then you can throw the weeds into your compost pile.

Save the soapy water from washing your dishes. If there isn't too much grease in the water, then you can use the soapy water as a pesticide. Just put the water in a spray bottle, and spray it on your plants. The soap will deter pests from eating the leaves. If the soap doesn't have any harsh detergents in it, you can also use the water to water your garden, saving even more money on your water bill.

It isn't too hard to save money while still having a beautiful garden. There are many sites which can give you advice on using household items for pesticides or herbicides, or information on composting. Just look around, and do some research. Find friends and family that have flower gardens. They may be able to give you some tips of their own, and they may have plants or seeds that you can trade for.