Gardeners, rejoice. It’s time to shake off those winter blues and start flexing your green thumb again.
But before you head out for this year’s supplies, check out these low-cost ways to get the most out of your garden.
Compost
Making your own compost to fertilize the garden is an eco-friendly way to cut costs — and it means you know exactly what’s in your soil amendment: leaves, grass cuttings and food waste including coffee grounds, vegetable peelings and fruit.
“Compost not only adds important nutrients and beneficial bacteria to soil, it recycles waste, reducing pollution and ground water contamination,” says Kathy Woodard, editor of TheGardenGlove.com, a website that offers budget gardening advice.
She suggests creating a compost system by using a garbage can with a tight lid: Just roll it around every couple days, and your compost will be ready in about three weeks.
Conserving water
You can collect rain water by directing a gutter downspout into a trash can. Use a watering can to disperse the water when your garden’s thirsty.
“Or you can install a cistern and collect thousands of gallons,” said Kevin Measel of Lowes Cos.
Or you can create a drip irrigation system fed by specially made rain barrels. Drip irrigation systems get water to plants’ roots, giving them a constant moisture supply and making them less susceptible to weather and insect damage, according to Woodard.
Flowers, vegetables
Starting plants from seed is typically cheaper than buying seedlings. Just allow plenty of time by planting seeds early. For extra savings, Woodard suggests plants that self-seed — drop seeds after they flower — to keep your garden growing in the future at little cost.
Measel recommends using empty egg cartons to start seedlings early indoors and deploying Popsicle sticks to mark your plants. For scooping soil, use a plastic half-gallon milk jug cut in half, he adds.
And instead of buying pots to hold your maturing plants, look around the house and the yard for items that can be reused, like baskets, a wheelbarrow, an old tea pot or a favorite bowl that’s been chipped.
For next year’s garden, take note of what’s most successful this year, cull seeds from the most prolific candidates and save them. Empty pill bottles or baby food jars work great for storing seeds, suggests Measel.
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