Frugal Gardening - Cutting Plant Expenses

Gardens come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from large acre plots to a few containers on the porch. No matter how big or small, there's always a garden to match. I like to think of garden expenses in the same light. You can spend a fortune on garden plants, or you can also spend very little. Since we all know how to spend money, I'm going to focus on the frugal aspects of garden plant expenses. Today, it's all about getting the most out of your money. I'll show you four garden plant ideas that are both cost efficient and a productive means to garden. You'll have a full garden with very little down!

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Seed packets from the store are always a blast to choose from, but at 2-4 dollars a pop, they can get quite expensive. The alternative method to acquiring seeds is to save them throughout the year. There's plenty of great produce in which you can harvest free seeds from. Before you just start collecting from any old produce, you should always check to see if your donating vegetables meet the following criteria:

• GM & Patented Free - Any cultivar that is genetically modified or patented may not be collected for crop production. You can be met with a lawsuit if the seeds are replanted. (I'm not sure why you'd want to collect them anyways)
• Trusted Source - Supermarket produce is normally not your best hunting grounds for free seeds. Produce at the market has usually been imported long distances, making it impossible to find out how the produce was grown, or even where it was grown! Try local farmer's markets. You'll know exactly where the produce came from, the variety name, and how it was grown.

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Trading in annuals for perennials can be a very wise move in the long run. Where annuals will need to be re-seeded every year, perennials will come back for many years after the initial planting. Planting perennials will continue to provide value for their money with each year that they come back. Now that's making your garden work for you! Here's a list of great perennials:

• Vegetables - Asparagus, Sunchokes, Rhubarb, Artichokes
• Fruits - Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Citrus, Grapes, and Fruit Trees
• Herbs - Mint, Thyme, Chives, Oregano, Rosemary

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Cloning your garden plants is another great way to make your garden work for you. With many varieties of plants, it is possible to grow a 'mother plant' and take cuttings from it to create even more plants. These cuttings taken from the mother plant are normally dipped in a rooting solution and then allowed to root in a growing medium. It sounds like a crazy science experiment, but the process is actually very easy and surprisingly very effective.

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This last one really applies to gardeners stuck in apartments or areas with very little available sunlight. Even if all you have is one container to plant, you can still have a bountiful harvest. Both garlic and green onions are the perfect inexpensive way to fill containers. Using a reliably sourced bunch of green onions, cut the bottom 1/2 inch off of each onion. Using this bottom portion including the roots, plant them two inches deep and spaced one inch part from each other. For garlic, separate and peel the largest cloves. Plant them two inches deep and two inches apart from each other. Water the soil and in one to two weeks, you'll have a small container full of fresh scallions and garlic shoots ready for the picking!

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That concludes my list of four money saving techniques in the garden. I'm always on the lookout for new ways to save money, so let me know what you do! Thank you for reading my article on frugal gardening.

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