How to Care for Your Garden on a Tight Budget

Guest Blog #125, Entry #592, July 19, 2011

While you may have a ‘green thumb’, you may think that caring for your garden requires a lot of money to keep fresh plants and quality garden tools on hand and in your garden.

Tips for caring for your garden on a budget

Today, my Guest Blogger gives tips for caring for your garden on a budget, and still enjoying a gorgeous garden you can be proud of.

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It’s extremely rewarding when you get to look out at your garden and see it in all its glory, with every bush trimmed and every blade of grass manicured to perfection. Keeping your garden looking prim and proper all year round can be a costly affair, especially if you use a landscaping company to keep it looking the way you want.

When you think about it there are so many different areas that you need to spend either your time or money on before you can get your garden to look exactly how you want it. If you want to do it yourself there are number of ways to help cut costs and still get the results you want.

Platnting a garden should be rewarding for your pocket too!

Plant native trees and shrubs

The majority of outdoor space is taken up by a lawn, but with almost weekly mowing during the summer it can be time-consuming to keep your lawn in check.  To cut down on the amount of time you spend mowing each week why not return some back to its natural form, by planting native trees and shrubs that will need very little.  Planting more native species will also help to attract more indigenous birds and insects to your back yard.

If you are about to invest in a new lawnmower look for one that will mulch the grass clippings as it mows, a mulching lawnmower will help to return the nutrients back into the soil providing your grass with the fertilizer it needs to flourish, saving you both time and money.

Turning some of your garden into a vegetable patch may mean you will spend more time working in your garden but the rewards that are presented on your dinner plate will far outweigh the time and effort needed to cultivate them.

A beautiful garden doesnt have to be expensive

Every garden should have a compost heap

It doesn’t matter how big or small your yard is you should always try and find space for compost pile. Your pants will thrive on the nutrient rich organic compost.

Many gardeners who live in drier parts of the world will be all too accustomed to stockpiling water during the wetter months. But this should be activity of every gardener, storing  rainwater for your garden not only means you are saving on your water bill but you will also be doing your bit for the environment.

Avoid chemical pesticides

Try and avoid chemical pesticides whenever possible, if your garden is suffering from an ant infestation instead of reaching for a chemical solution try a mixture of one part borax mixed with three parts sugar, mix with water and pour the solution over the ant hills in your garden.

Slugs are a constant pest in ever garden and most gardeners will reach for a can of slug pellets as soon as they see the first signs of a slugs slime trail. But there are other ways to make your garden a less inviting place for slugs and snails and your first line of defense should be to remove an suitable hiding places for them. If they cannot find shelter from the sun under a rock or piece of wood they will have no choice but to look somewhere else .

Another non-chemical approach to removing any unwanted guests is to use vinegar instead of a pesticide. Undiluted vinegar and a spray bottle can yield surprising results on a wide variety of weeds.

This is a guest post from Joanne from My Garden Hammock, a site that is dedicated to the peace and serenity that a hammock can bring to an offen caotic home

For more gardening tips on Stagetecture, click here.