Gardening has proven to be one of the best therapeutic ways to get your mind off things that bother you on daily basis. In fact, in modern medicine you'll find gardening included in "healing" sessions, as it helps the mind stay focused on the positive and calming. Gardening is soothing for the mind and soul and apart from that - its products (the various greens and flowers) look absolutely gorgeous!
Don't get the previous passage wrong - nobody is trying to say you need to be psychologically unstable to love to garden. We were just pointing out the one among many benefits of gardening.
If you are a gardening lover (and you probably are since you are on this blog) and you are looking for ways to give your garden that much needed sparkle without breaking the bank, we've got some great money-saving tips to help your garden and your budget thrive.
Let's begin, shall we?
- Bring on the land
Don't expect any good gardening to happen unless you've got good land to rely on. However, despite the popular opinion that land doesn't really have to cost you an arm and a leg. You don't even need to own the land, you just need to have permission to plant there. If we are talking about your personal garden, then everything is settled. You already have the land and you don't need to rely on multiple pots and containers.
- The climate is everything
To have a good garden you should be smart when first building it. How so? Well, know the climate you live in and get some education about the plants that best live in such climate. There is no point in planting and re-planting certain greens or flowers every season if they keep dying on you. No matter how much you love a certain plant, don't spend money on its seeds and growing if you know it won't last.
- Good soil will take you far
Fertile soil is the basis of all gardening. Unfortunately, not all land is fertile. However, there are still amazing ways to fight this unfortunate condition. The best way to do so is to start building up good soil is through composting.
For those who aren't sure what that means, it's simple:
– place your fruit and vegetable scraps and keep them in a lidded bucket
– wait until they begin to decompose into rich organic matter
– don't add any new scrapes into the bucked about three months before you want to use the compost
– Mix the compost up regularly
– (optional) put well washed and crumbled egg shells and coffee grains and into your compost bin
- Cultivation
Cultivation can be a true challenge, especially if you've decided to garden outside. Cultivating plants outside means you're going to have to turn the soil over which can get somewhat expensive. However, the least expensive method is to do it manually with a hoe. Even though this can be a really intense labor, you need to sacrifice a bit for your gorgeous garden.
Another option is to rent/borrow/buy a small tiller to churn up the soil for you. If you're going to consistently garden (for years, preferably) then buying a tiller can be a cost-effective idea.
- The tools you need
Depending on the size of your garden, the climate, types of plants you've got there… you may only need a hoe and a small handheld shovel. If you don't want to spend money (or you can't afford to) on these, borrow them from your fellow neighbors gardeners. They'll surely want to help out. Plus, there are now water cart spray truck businesses that offer part-time tank management services, so relying on something like is a great option.
However, owning your gardening tools is always better, that is - if gardening is something you want to be doing for a long period of time, not just one season and replace it for another hobby.
- Get education
Before you start any gardening, we'd advise getting some education on gardening. No matter how much you love gardening or think you love, it's totally different maintaining a garden in your head and in reality. It takes a lot of planning, patience as well as knowing all sorts of tricks.
We hope our tutorial was helpful and that you'll soon enough be enjoying your new garden in now time and with amazing results!
Nice article, Diana. We will definitely be patient and well prepared before every gardening project, research is crucial and there is always someone better experienced who can help (online or offline).