How much do you spend on gardening?

[awakenedsoul]

I'm real happy with how my garden is looking this year. I think the combination of mulch, compost/manure tea, and hollyhocks has made a spectacular front garden. It's very small, but bursting with color, health, and energy. So far I've put $40.00 into it. I bought a couple of hanging baskets of miniature petunias. They're gorgeous. I also bought a six flat of zucchini. Today I plan to go back and pick up some heirloom tomato plants. I'm going to tuck them along my driveway. I usually spend about $100. a year on my garden. I'm trying to keep it at $50.00 this year. How about you?

I have lots of seeds saved that I plan to plant: Cinderella pumpkins, unusual melons, and cucumbers. I don't have to buy any plant food because I use compost, composted manure, and straw mulch. (I have both.)

[Jilly]

My garden is small, a strip between the driveway and porch, approximately 15 inches by 11 feet. I spent a lot last year to improve the soil, and to protect all that work from running down the driveway when it rains.

I live alongside big water and it is always much cooler/colder here than even a few blocks inland, so I do not start plants or sow seeds. I am thinking the plants will cost me less than $20.00. I spent about $50 on railings for tying up the tomato plants because they were a mess last year and kept wanting to flow out wherever they wanted and I had nothing to which to attach them.

I can almost taste the parsley, kales and tomatoes now.

[awakenedsoul]

I use recycled stakes and tights for my tomatoes, Jilly. I know what you mean. Tomatoes need staking or caging. Gardening can get very expensive. It sounds like you are able to do it without blowing a lot of money.

[Geila]

It varies for us. Usually we'll do a big investment, about 11 years ago we bought a bunch of trees and some redwood for arbors and deck, but then we'll go several years without spending anything beyond the water. During the 'non-investment' years, I might spend $50-$100 on plants, but we do a lot of propagating of shrubs from our existing plants: roses, butterfly bush, royal robe, heavenly bamboo, etc. I rarely buy annuals, and I don't grow edibles simply because my lot is small, lots of shade, and we have access to great local produce at a good price. Right now we're thinking of doing some brick paving, but we do all the work ourselves, so the only cost would be the material. And since the area is small, the cost should be reasonable.

But what we do spend, we feel is a good investment because more and more we find that we would rather be home than anywhere else. Our home is our own vacation getaway!

[awakenedsoul]

That's how I feel, too. It makes such a difference to have a well tended garden and a beautiful home. I think it's really related to mental and emotional health. I'm really happy with what the seeds are doing, because I can just save those. The orchard was an investment, but it's paid for itself.

I've been guilty a few times of buying flats of vegetable plants, then neglecting them, and not harvesting anything. (The gophers did, though.) So, by focusing on the front, I know I'll keep everything watered and fed. We have very long, hot summers here...I've got an artichoke plant in front that is really looking pretty. It's unusual looking, (in with the flowers.)

[ctg492]

Oh I am not sure I could add it all up over the many years. I am struggling deeply with the money spent, but more the love and time. Only to move again. I am excited to return to Michigan tomorrow and see how my gardens did without my love this spring.

[ctg492]

14101411I could keep going I love my gardens so much!

[ctg492]

Adding a year ago I decided to put in a vegetable garden. I sat in the area the fall before watching the sun and shade time. I planned, oh there are posts here on it probably. I thought I am staying here long term so let's do this. After all the years and my ripe old age I even bought a tiller. Manure, dirt, mulch, fencing I worked really hard. I then planted. This was one of my biggest lump investments for gardening. Then the flooding rains came! Everything I mean everything washed into the woods! We had been there 4 summers and never saw this coming. But gardening is love.

[Gardenarian]

This year I spent nothing. My neighbor had extra tomato plants and I used last year's seeds for lettuce, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, etc. We use compost as fertilizer and make compost tea.
Normally I do spend some money on soil for containers, seeds, plants, but I'm doing very limited gardening this year. Luckily all my tools are in good shape.

[awakenedsoul]

ctg492, Your garden is gorgeous! Thanks for posting the photo. I couldn't get the link to work. It said to notify an administrator...So sorry about the floods. Your neighborhood looks so green!

Gardenarian, I just bought four tomato plants on my way home from a job interview. I got the job, so I decided to go ahead and splurge a little...that's great that you're using your seeds. It's so much cheaper.

[iris lilies]

I spend too much. We do buy annuals for 7 - 8 pots around here. After I retire my challenge will to be to grow annuals for these pots. Marigolds are easy and I'll try petunias as well.

DH buys a fair number of vegetable seedlings, too. and onion sets. But he grows a lot from seed, too. But then he replaces fruit trees, those are expensive. So many of our fruit trees have died over the past 2 - 3 years because they were planted 25 years ago and they are at the end of their lives.

[pinkytoe]

Gardening is the one category that I don't think about how much it costs. However, knowing that we will be leaving this house, I am not going to invest anymore in landscaping - just keep up with what I've got. I planted quite a few tomatos and herbs and darn, I forgot about the squirrels since I hadn't seen any. Total loss - all the baby tomatos were gone in a day!! So I probably spent about $125 this spring on various things.

[Blackdog Lin]

That's a great question, awakenedsoul. Made me curious, so I dug into my Quicken to find out.

Now, my "gardening" category includes everything to maintain and beautify the property. And we have 7 (mol) acres to maintain. So, gas for the lawnmower, annual flowers for the flowerpots, bedding veggies for the veggie garden, any new equipment needed and maintenance on same (new weedeater, chain for the chainsaw, mower blades sharpening etc.), any new perennials or pots I think I need, new cages for the tomatoes/peppers (when they wear out and die), does anything need a coat of spray paint?, new table umbrella 'cause it got disreputable and ugly.....ANYTHING outside goes in this category.

(I'm just trying to justify my figures, 'cause I was kind of astounded at what I found in Quicken.)

2011 - $750.00. Sounded too high to me initially..... but I know that for a property like ours, this is not bad.
2012 - $1079.00. I know my new weedeater was that year, and maybe the new (used but new to us) garden tiller too.
2013 - $745.00. Another typical year. Can't think of anything that.....wait, I got 2 new patio-furniture cushions last summer.
2014 to date - $350.00. Looks like it's gonna be typical.

I really didn't realize our property required this much in the way of grounds maintenance. And other than spending $150 or so every year on flower-pot annuals.....everything else is an actual can't-get-out-of necessary expense.

Interesting.....

[awakenedsoul]

irislilies, I didn't know fruit trees died after 25 years. I know CA citrus can live for at least 100 years. My pomegranite tree looks like it's going to last a long, long time, too. My plum trees look kind of scraggly.
pinkytoe, Sorry to hear about the squirrels. Bummer.
BlackdogLin, Wow! That's a big expense. The amount people spend on annuals interests me. It's so easy to drop $100. at the nursery. I do love how the flowers I bought this year look, though. I've got a lot of poppies, four o'clocks, and feverfew that have reseeded.
A neighbor of mine who had an amazing garden used to tell me, "You can't put a price on it." She moved away, but she had such a gorgeous garden, and such a green thumb! She gave me a lot of the perennials that I have now: geraniums, four o'clocks, irises, etc. My lilies that my mail lady gave me are in bloom now. It took years for them to get established, but now they look spectacular....like velvet.

[Jilly]

I use recycled stakes and tights for my tomatoes, Jilly. I know what you mean. Tomatoes need staking or caging. Gardening can get very expensive. It sounds like you are able to do it without blowing a lot of money.

I tried stakes and some poles that someone gave to me, but the soil is so sandy that I cannot improve it much along the porch. I also had some lovely dried vines, thick something-or-the-other, but the landlord was not crazy about them.

This year I found the fencing, black wrought iron, on sale, bought enough sections and pushed them into the soil. I also have a couple of cages and am hoping that it all works. I found a few solar spot lights, the ones you stick in the ground, and am going to fasten just the tops to the fence so that there is light reflecting from the porch ceiling. Should make it easier coming home after dark.