People grow their own food not only to enjoy fresh food but also to save money. Gardening is not just a hobby, it is also a way to reduce spendings. However, sometimes, many people end up spending more than they expected to. Therefore, in this article, we will provide you with some crucial and effective money-saving gardening tips. These tips will notably save you a lot of money.
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Create your own compost
Compost is not expensive but if you keep running to the store every time you need any, it will be costly. Instead, you can make your own compost. It is not a difficult task. There are a lot of things you can use to make compost such as grass clippings, kitchen waste, twigs. They are always available and they make a great organic compost.
2. Don’t buy seed starting pots
Most gardeners prefer to start their plants from seeds. It is an excellent choice. However, buying a lot of seed starting pots will cost you a decent amount of money. Therefore, it is best that you make newspaper pots. They are effective and they will boost the germination of your seeds. You can learn how to make them at instructables.com.
3. Use burlap bags and sacks
This is one of the best money-saving gardening tips. If you don’t have any more available gardening space to grow more plants, don’t opt for pots, buying a lot of pots will be expensive, but rather you should use burlap bags and sacks. Growing plants in burlap bags and sacks is not as productive as growing them in raised beds, yet, you will enjoy a decent harvest.
4. Propagate plants to multiply them
Instead of buying new plants, you should multiple your old ones. The best way to do it is through plant propagation. It will multiply your plants for free and save you money. There are a lot of ways to multiply plants including Cutting, layering, and division. If you don’t know how to multiply plants, you should read this informative article.
5. Mulching
This is one of the most effective money-saving gardening tips. Mulching can save you a lot of money. First, it keeps the soil moist so you won’t do a lot of watering. Second, it prevents the emergence and the growth of weeds thus it will save you the money you were going to spend on killing and removing weeds. Finally, yet importantly, it enhances the quality of your soil. Therefore, it is recommended that you add a 2 to 3 inches layer of mulch around your plants.
6. Avoid impulse buying
This is also one of the most important money-saving gardening tips. Don’t buy plants and gardening tools you don’t have space for them. It is a waste of your time and money. Before you buy anything, make sure first that you have enough space for them.
7. Vinegar
Vinegar is useful in gardens as much as it is useful kitchens. There are several benefits of using vinegar in your kitchen. You can use it to clean your plants, kill weeds, and keep away pests, insects, and animals. Using vinegar will keep your garden chemical-free as well as will save you money. For more information about vinegar uses in gardens, check out this article.
8. Use coffee grounds and tea bags
Coffee grounds are commonly used in gardens. They have a lot of benefits for your plants. They will provide your plants with the nutrients and the nitrogen they need. Tea bags are known to improve the soil quality and to attract earthworms. Using these two will save you the money that you will spend on fertilizers and organic materials.
There are many other uses for coffee grounds in gardens, if you wish to know about them, please read this article.
9. Use Citrus Peels
Citrus Peels can replace pesticides. It is very efficient against many pests, especially mild pest. Citrus peels will repel pests without contaminating your garden. Using Citrus peels as a pesticide is quite easy. All you need to do is to cut the citrus into small pieces and put them around the affected plants. It is true that it is not as effective as pesticides, yet it maintains your garden chemical-free.
10. Suppress weeds with cardboard
This is one of the greatest money-saving gardening tips. Killing weeds using carboards is one of the best organic solutions to get rid of weeds without contaminating your garden. Cardboards are very efficient in killing weeds. Besides, it is extremely easy to use them. Just follow the below steps:
- Cut the weeds and the unwanted plants to the ground level
- Soak the cardboard with the garden hose
- Then add a layer of mulch
There are a lot of ways to remove weeds from your gardens without contaminating it, you can find them here. You should also read these tips about removing weeds.
11. Fertilize your plants with cooking water
After boiling vegetables or eggs, don’t throw away the water but rather wait for it until it becomes cooler and water your plants with it. It contains nutrients, it is a good fertilizer for your plants. It will help your plants to grow and to thrive. Moreover, it is way cheaper than fertilizers.
12. Test your soil
Testing your garden soil is one way to save money. It will let you know which nutrients your soil needs. Thus, you will know which plants and fertilizers to buy. Moreover, this strategy will boost your plants’ productivity.
13. Use Grass Clippings
Instead of buying lawn fertilizers, you can save your money and use grass clippings. It is quite simple and easy. After mowing your lawn, leave some grass clippings on it. This strategy will reduce your lawn’s consumption of fertilizers up to 25%.
14. Use Bricks in Landscaping
Bricks are extremely popular materials. They are widely used in gardens, paths, walkways, and so on and so forth. They are also very inexpensive. You can use them to build edges, raised beds and garden paths.
15. Use Kitchen Scraps in the Garden
Growing these staples will save you some money. They are very expensive at stores but growing them is easy and cheap.
These are the best money-saving gardening tips. These tips will help you avoid spending your money in vain. They are also easy to follow.
Enjoy!