Budget-friendly gardening tips
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Q. Our family, like many others, faces financial challenges these days. Even gardening is becoming more expensive. Have you any suggestions for gardening frugally?
Recommended Videos
A. Basic living expenses have risen significantly in recent years. Growing some of our own food in available garden spaces or in containers can help.
Although seeds too have gone up in price, growing from seed can still save money, especially if the seeds and their costs are shared with other gardeners. I spend a significant amount of time in late winter price checking between seed sources that list items I want.
Buy small, compact transplants. They are cheaper and will establish more easily than large ones. Swap seeds and plant divisions with neighbours and friends.
Watch for “discards” like used hanging baskets and other containers left on boulevards for free pickup. Make your own seeding containers from emptied juice and milk cartons with one side cut out. Gather leaves for mulching from neighbours wanting them taken away.
Check out garage sales for planters and garden tools.
Q. Do you plant fall rye as a “green manure” crop? At what point in early spring should it be dug into the soil?
A. Years ago, I used to seed fall rye on emptied plots in the autumn, but I found that the plants never fully composted into the soil after being dug under in late winter — at least not in time for spring planting where the rye had grown. I always ended up having to haul the lifted plants to compost heaps. Fall rye needs to be dug under when it is still very small and succulent.
Another key issue is that now we are admonished to avoid continuous disturbance of the soil by regular “digging over.”
Now, I cover emptied vegetable plots with a generous layer of leaves for the winter to protect the soil from erosion and general weathering. I always find the uncovered soil in the spring to be in beautiful condition, to be further enhanced by a pre-planting layer of compost.