Gardening hasn’t escaped the rise in costs but it need not be expensive. With good planning and sensible decision-making, gardening won’t have to be an expensive hobby.
Here are ways to get a big impact without blowing your budget.
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1. Grow from seed
Growing from seed is the most inexpensive way to start your garden. If you are a beginner in sowing seeds, begin by looking for easy-to-start seeds until you feel more comfortable working with harder-to-grow seed plants.
Also, collect and save your seeds so that you won’t have to spend money, and you can build up a nice variety to regrow the following growing season. Sowing from seed also allows you to choose from a variety of plants.
2. Choose the correct plants
If you are on a tight budget, perennials over annuals would be a good choice. With annuals, you must keep replacing them with new ones each year, which is not cost-effective for most gardeners on a budget.
Perennial plants on the other hand will grow year after year without being replaced if grown in the proper conditions. So, for a lower-cost garden in the long term, perennial plants are the way to go.
3. Make your compost
Buying soil is sometimes one of the largest expenses many gardeners will encounter. Making your compost is more economical and sustainable to improve your garden soil by just adding compost and other organic matter to it.
It is also a great way to reduce waste and use natural resources to help your garden thrive. Most homemade compost usually contains everything most plants need for healthy growth, thus limiting the need to buy fertilizers to feed your plants.
4. Reuse and recycle pots
To save money and be environmentally friendly, take care of your pots so you can reuse them multiple times. For even greater sustainability, consider making seedling pots from newspapers or eggshells.
5. Care for your equipment
Quality gardening equipment is an investment but only if you care for it to prolong its life. Cleaning your garden tools is vital to lessen the spread of disease from plant to plant using your tools.
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Be clever with your budget and use it where it will have the most impact. Another key factor with gardening is to be patient and enjoy the natural growth of your garden plants.
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A version of this article was first written by Chumasande Matiwane for Garden&Home.
