Frugal gardening

[Rosemary]

A couple of years ago when we had some construction on our property I had the soil that would have otherwise been hauled away dumped in a pile in a shady, little-used area that is not visible from the front of the house. It's been really handy. Little did I know how convenient it would be to have a ready source of soil for...
- shoring up areas that were low, next to the house, to improve drainage
- potting plants to give away to friends
- amending soil in other parts of the yard that was not as nice
- filling raised beds

Last year I began re-doing out front landscape bed, adjacent to the house. It was created about 25 years ago and 'mulched' with landscape rocks. I have a LOT of rocks to use elsewhere... I'd estimate 5 to 8 tons. So far, I've used them to:
- thicken the same rock type elsewhere in the yard to prevent weeds
- make some hardscape surfaces, both with rocks underneath pavers and with rocks surrounding stepping stones
- make houseplant pots heavier (by placing in the bottom of the pot) so top-heavy plants don't tip them
(give me more ideas! I have a lot of rocks left! the re-landscaped area will be mulched with mulch)

I've been giving away lots of plants and receiving many in return! It's a great way to diversify within the garden. Now that I have both sun and shade beds that are maturing since I originally planted them, when I take a new area back from the lawn I can go dig plants and move them to the new space. I have been buying particular plants that I want but filling in around them this way, with things like daffodils, strawberries, penstemon and other perennials, herbs, etc. Most gardeners I know love to share, so if you like a plant you see in someone's yard, ask!

How do you save money in the garden?

[catherine]

This year we didn't go to frugal--we wound up buying a lot of topsoil and peat, unfortunately because we put in a couple of raised beds and an herb garden.

The only frugal thing we did was ask the nursery owner if we could have the rocks that were in his garbage pile as opposed to buying a bag/pallet of them, and he told us to take whatever we wanted. We installed an herb/Zen garden with a deer chaser and a small pond, and I LOVE it. It's worth the $40 we spent on it, for sure!

[awakenedsoul]

The birds save me a lot of money in my garden. They plant all kinds of flowers for me. They even planted a locust tree next to my mailbox! I save seeds for zucchini, watermelon, pumpkins, and sunflowers. I use straw mulch to cut down on water. I let my hollyhocks and poppies reseed in the front garden. They look beautiful, and there's no work. I also make compost tea and have a thriving compost pile. My neighbor gives me free horse manure. That mixed with my regular compost does a great job fertilizing my fruit trees.

Fun thread!

[fidgiegirl]

We were lucky to get some wood chips earlier in the year from a tree company that was taking a tree out a few houses down and chipping it up on site. I was about a million weeks pregnant and waddled my butt down there to ask if they would mind dumping them on our alley parking area. They did! In fact they went out and did more work at another house and THEN emptied their hopper. I even had time to run to Whole Foods and buy them some brownies for their trouble. We're still using the chips. Saved us from having a muddy doggy every day this wet spring. I think we'll use the rest in the front yard to suppress weeds and preserve moisture.

One other time we did the same thing at our old house. Other times it hasn't worked out. So it's a hit or miss strategy, but great when it pays off.

[iris lilies]

We were lucky to get some wood chips earlier in the year from a tree company that was taking a tree out a few houses down and chipping it up on site. I was about a million weeks pregnant and waddled my butt down there to ask if they would mind dumping them on our alley parking area. They did! In fact they went out and did more work at another house and THEN emptied their hopper. I even had time to run to Whole Foods and buy them some brownies for their trouble. We're still using the chips. Saved us from having a muddy doggy every day this wet spring. I think we'll use the rest in the front yard to suppress weeds and preserve moisture.

One other time we did the same thing at our old house. Other times it hasn't worked out. So it's a hit or miss strategy, but great when it pays off.

Free wood chips piled right where you need them are the best thing in the world! Well, unless it's compost, free, a big load of it, piled right where you need it.

DH worked for a tree company and they often had to dump in the landfill so it is a win/win when they can find someone who wants chips.

I've worked with wood chips for years, but I still dream about one particular load from DH's company. It was all oak chips. Super hard, cut up in little squares and very dry, it was like lifting bags of poker chips and they clicked together like that. The best freaking mulch EVER! It took years for that stuff to fully break down.

Can you tell that I love wood mulch?

[Songbird]

This past year we moved to this little cabin by the lake, which doesn't really need any flowers or plantings due to the beauty of the surrounding nature, and we have a much smaller veggie/fruit raised bed garden here than we did at our old place. Saved us quite a bit to just go smaller, plus I know how much went to waste last year despite canning alot of it and giving the rest away to anyone that would take it. Smaller, thus less garden bounty will be better for us here...

[catherine]

Can you tell that I love wood mulch?

Great! Since I have the mulch expert here, I need your opinion. DH and I installed a small herb garden, as I stated above. We have a spot in the corner of our yard with two conifers and between the two bushes there's always been a depression. The rest of our yard is flat (my MIL always said that the previous owners must have buried someone back there). So it really is only about 6-7 feet between the trees, and about 3 feet wide.

Well, we're just of the end of this pretty harmonious practice, and we got to the mulch. I was busy yesterday, so DH went to buy it and when he got it on the ground it was NOT what I expected. Instead of a nice quiet mulch, this is big pine bark nuggets.

He likes it because it looks more "natural." I think it ruins the visual of the garden, and you miss the delicate thyme and moss because your visual sense is overwhelmed by these big chunks of wood.

What say you? He told me he'd pick it up and get something different, but I told him not to do anything for a few days because it might grow on me. (click on the pic to make it bigger.. also note that I'm not done finalizing placement of rocks, and doing other fine-tuning.)

IMG_1854.jpg

[iris lilies]

Great! Since I have the mulch expert here, I need your opinion...

I am not a fan of those big chunks for aesthetics so I agree with you, but since they are down I would leave them. Big chunks like that will take 2 - 3 years to break down. In the long run, it's not a big deal.

[danna]

They will break down and I kind of like the look in your lovely garden!
Top it up with the smaller pieces next year....

You are so far ahead of me in this your picture made me think I need to get outside
and do some more work....lol

[Jilly]

I like it a lot and the large chunks will be more difficult for critters to knock into your wee pond.