Making Sure Costs Don’t Outgrow Your Budget

Having a good garden, or a series of smaller gardens on your property, does cost money. Fencing materials and paving stones aren’t cheap. Garden furnishings and décor aren’t cheap. Big plants, special small plants, and pots aren’t cheap. Potting soil and loam aren’t cheap. Fertilizer and pesticides aren’t cheap. It all adds up. And, frankly, budgeting is hard when you’re dealing with an ongoing project whose look is likely to evolve.

So here’s my main advice: Relax. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take small bites, if need be. Tackle one project at a time and see it through, and then move on to the next one. Or divide a large project into sections and allow yourself time — even several seasons or years — to complete it. One place where you can save money is labor — use yourself, involve your partner or your kids, bribe friends with dinner, or hire neighborhood kids. And remember that, fortunately, gardening is one of those experiences in life whose journey can be as satisfying as the destination.

Here are some other money-saving ideas:

• Grow plants from seed.
• Divide perennials and shrubs and move the pieces to other parts of your yard.
• Get plants from other gardeners — some people may simply give you their unwanted surplus; others will be happy to swap. Join a local garden club, and you may be assured of these transactions!
• Make your own compost. And always compost your fall leaves instead of bagging them and sending them off to the local landfill.
• Buy from the source, whether it’s a special daylily nursery nearby or a local brickyard.
• Browse yard sales, junkyards, and antique shops. You may happen across real bargains in garden ornaments as well as pots, gates, trellises, fencing, and so on.

Last but not least, take care of your investments. It’s a sad waste to let good, costly plants or garden areas languish or die. The more you know about soil, about planting, about plant care — and this book is chock-full of useful advice — the easier it’ll be to do right by your garden. A thriving garden can repay you many times over.