Gardening On A Budget

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Love the color green but lacking it in your wallet?

I feel ya. When we bought our house, I had such big visions for our bare backyard. But such a small wallet.

Good thing I’m thrifty as all get out!

I am going to share with you my favorite ways I’ve saved quite a few bucks on gardening supplies, materials and anything else you might need to achieve your gardening goals. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Craigslist & Becca = BFFs

Craigslist can be scary, I admit. There are some weirdos out there, but don’t let them ruin a perfectly good resource for you.

You can find basically anything you’d ever want or need on Craigslist. If it’s not being given away for free, it is typically being offered at a stellar discount.

For example: I’ve found t-posts, chicken wire, hardware cloth and many pots being offered on the ‘Free’ section of my local Craigslist. While I had all these grand ideas and projects I wanted to get started on, some people just wanted theirs to be OVER and GONE. Sometimes all that is required is you disassemble and move the items yourself. In my opinion, that’s a small (non) price to pay for free materials.

In the future, I would love to build a greenhouse out of windows. Once we know where it is going, you bet I’m going to start stalking Craigslist every day for free windows. I’ve seen them before, the timing just wasn’t right to justify claiming them.

Take this all with a grain of salt, though. Of course you want to make certain the item you want is in acceptable shape before any money exchange happens. And of course you should take safety precautions before giving out any personal information like phone number and address.

Facebook

Facebook marketplace can be a great resource for free items as well! I’ve scored quite a few free plants by browsing the gardening section.

But I’ll be honest, I’m actually more hesitant to use marketplace than I am Craigslist. Why? Because my face and name is right there for anybody to see and access. I don’t know, maybe it’s just the introvert in me, but I prefer the anonymity of Craigslist in this regard.

I’ll tell you though, the main reason I still log in to Facebook these days is because of my local gardening group. Now that’s a gold mine of resources. Not only can you score free materials from other gardeners (sometimes fully assembled garden beds!) but you have a wealth of information at your fingertips from people gardening in the same area you are. That’s priceless.

Put Yourself Out There

There are a lot of apps and websites you can log into these days that connect you to people buying and selling items, as well as your neighborhood. I’ve used a neighborhood app before to get rid of some large boulders that I did not need or want. I offered them for free under the condition that they move them themselves. I had about 10 people reach out!

Sometimes though, the best freebies are waiting for you just outside your home. Hop in your car or on your bike and go over to your local grocery store. I bet they have a bunch of produce cardboard boxes that they’d be thrilled to get rid of! There’s a free weed barrier for you.

Head on over to your local coffee shop. 9/10 places I’ve been to have been more than willing to save their used coffee grounds for me when I asked about them! There’s some great compost material.

One of my favorite gardening resources I’ve been utilizing over the last few years has been a local woman who has a horse farm. Having a horse farm guarantees you will be fully stocked on horse manure. In her case, she was overstocked. She allows local gardeners to come load up as much manure as they want, anytime they want – for free.

City & County Resources

When we first moved into our home a few years ago, my husband and I were googling the city’s tree trimming services. We had a few branches that were hanging right over a power line. While searching, we discovered that our city chips up the branches and trees they cut and dump them at a community pile for citizens to utilize for FREE. It can be hit or miss when loading up mulch from the pile, because it is so popular. Sometimes we make it to a freshly replenished pile, sometimes it’s leveled out flat.

Another neat service the county provides is a slash & mulch pile out in the forest. If you are doing heavy trimming work and brush removal, you can pay a small fee and dump your trimmings at this site. They then use a huge industrial sized chipper to mulch it all up, then offer the mulch for free. It’s all volunteer based, and you can choose to donate canned food to their cause. How cool?!

Sales

Not just your normal, every-day advertised sales you see at your big box stores. I’m talking end of the year/season, ‘please take these plants’ sales. I’ve scored numerous perennials by going to my local home improvement store when summer ends. This time of year, they’re trying to clear out their gardening section and make room for winter items. Go deep into the gardening section and find that clearance rack of plants that look like they’re dying. Most of them aren’t. Most are just neglected, or past their prime. But guess what? If they’re perennials and you get them into the ground before the first big freeze, you’ve got yourself some cheap plants that’ll come back next year.

I did this last year with mums, hostas, and salvia. All three are perennials in my zone. Yet all 3 looked awful. Crunchy dry leaves, spent blooms. But I dug down to their root zones and found some green new growth and perfectly healthy roots. So I purchased what should have been a $10 plant for $1 and guess what? They are all big and beautiful this year.

Have I convinced you?

If you are having a difficult time sourcing for items and budgeting for your big garden dreams, take a few moments to research what resources are out there for you. Even if your city does not offer a mulch pile like mine, I bet you that you can find multiple people who would love for you to collect their leaves during the fall. Leaves make great mulch and compost.

Are there any gardening resources you love to utilize to keep things affordable? I hope this has inspired you to keep gardening, even if your wallet says you can’t. The thriftiness in you says you can!

Until next time,

Becca