How to Stop Spending So Much Money on Gardening
Ontario’s continuous lockdowns to counter Covid have caused supply shortages, price inflations and access inequalities amongst residents of Toronto. Gardening does not need to be only for the affluent and land owners. There are many ways to garden on a budget, or even for free, utilizing things you and your community already have access to.
These aren’t hacks. This is a practical, frugal list of ways to garden.
The internet is full of inspiring ideas that can send you down a rabbit hole of keeping up with the Joneses. You do not need cattle panel arbours and potager garden beds to grow vegetables. You do not need elaborate designs and varying hardscaped materials to create a planted oasis to retreat to. If you want that though, we can always chat more about my garden design services, but you came here for free. And free is what I am offering today!
15 Frugal Ways to Garden During Covid Lockdown
Get Land
Not everyone has access to land, or even a balcony. Community gardens often have wait lists spanning years. So instead seek out yard-sharing programs. Someone has land but no time or desire. You have the desire but no land. A match is made and you both reap the rewards!
Right plant in the right place
Stop killing plants. You won’t be able to cure this overnight, but if you learn about your garden and it’s microclimates, you will be able to place the right plant in the right place and have it thrive. No more replacing perennials as if they were expensive annuals!
Plant in ground.
Rare occasions call for a raised bed. Soil contamination (do a soil test to confirm), no soil and mobility issues are a few reasons when it’s necessary. Otherwise, make use of the land you have access to. If it’s clay, it means it is nutrient rich. Yes it will be challenging to dig if soil is exposed and dry, but if you worked through your microclimates you will pick appropriate crops/plants and amend each year. Slowly transforming your soil rather then replacing.
Mulch with what you have
Mulch with leaves, straw, chopped plant material or wood chips. You don’t need a store bought bag of red or black dyed wood mulch. A bale of straw in the fall is often $4 if you avoid typical retail locations and deal with a farmer. Grab one in the fall, decorate for thanksgiving, and then mulch your gardens. (Disclaimer: ask questions when getting straw. Some is very seedy(first cut hay), others may have been sprayed with pesticides).
Wood chips can be obtained for free from local arborists or chipdrop. The catch is you get an insane amount. Far more then most people need. But you can offer your leftovers to your community and it will relocate itself.
Compost
Close the cycle and compost. Create your own new nutrient rich soil. There are many styles of composting. I do not claim to be an expert, rather the opposite. I fail miserably at composting and am still learning. I turn to Crooked Farmz for guidance and inspiration around all things local composting. If you compost, you can eventually brew your own compost tea and rebuild the soil structure and nutrients with your own creations.
Container Gardening
Reuse anything food grade. Take out containers, produce packaging from the grocery store, dairy tubs, water bottles, juice jugs. Use these to start seeds either indoors or through winter sowing. Use them to give away seedlings to others.
Nurseries may no longer be offering this due to Covid, but pre-2020 many had black plastic recycling bins. You could return your empty plant containers after purchasing a plant, but these were also available for anyone to take as well. Tree pots are some of my favourite. Thicker plastic, larger size, very durable and UV resistant unlike recycling food containers. Tree pots made fantastic containers for the veggie garden.
Contact local restaurants for their large buckets. Once they have finished with the ice cream etc, the buckets are disposed of. These make great plant pots once you drill holes into the bottom. They are not UV stable so will likely last just one or two seasons.
Start from seed.
Starting from seed is one of the easiest ways to save a ton of money when compared against the price of plant starts. A 4 cell pack or 4” plant at a nursery or garden center will start around $4. There are many variables that can change this price, but this is a ballpark. A pack of seeds will often be $2-$4. There will often be more seeds then you require for this growing season.
Get free seeds.
Taking starting from seed even further, you may be able to get free seeds. If you’ve grown crops in previous years, you can save your own. You can do swaps and exchanges with other growers. Check out the “Grow Food Toronto” facebook group for weekly trade threads. Or you can get in touch with the Toronto seed library. They offer many free seeds to the GTA through the donations of others.Impulse Desires
You have done it. You’ve gone out shopping and come home with a plant that had no business joining you on the way home, but along it came. These impulse purchases add up and many plant prices are facing extreme inflation like other materials. Avoid shopping at retailers and instead peruse your neighbourhood gardens. See a plant you like? Do a quick google and familiarize yourself on how to propagate it. Division, cutting, seed, bulb or tuber etc. And then ask your neighbour if you can have some.
In facebook groups there are often free offerings as gardeners thin, edit and revise their gardens. Keep your eyes peeled for local posts.
Propagation
Take plants you already have and make more of them. How to do this will vary based on the plant. You can purchase just one plant and with time and patience transform that into a mass planting through propagation efforts. Shrubs, Lavender, Roses, Herbs, Tomatoes… the list goes on.
Free hardscaping
Stone, pavers, etc all of it is heavy. It costs a lot to remove. Often when a residence is renovating they will post on kijij or facebook marketplace with a ‘free if you haul it away’. This does require access to a vehicle and often means several trips back and forth, but you can score hundreds of dollars in material with some effort and a tank of gas.
Free edging and furniture
Arborists truly are a gardeners best friend. Logs can be used for furniture, edging, walls, play grounds and more. More on how to obtain free logs here.
Use your offcuts
When pruning trees consider turning the branches into teepee’s, weaving them into trellises or using them as plant supports. Kids can find a variety of uses for sticks, dogs too.
A pile of sticks tucked into a neglected section of your garden can create a habitat space for animals. For some this sounds like the worst possible idea ever! Invite in rabbits or mice?! But somehow having young kids who see these animals with awe forces you to have a change of heart. Being able to observe the behaviours and family structures of an animal first hand, without needing to take ownership like a dog or cat, is a pretty special treat!
Use your mask
Elastic faced shortages in the last year due to all the mask making. Once your mask has finished it’s service with you, repurpose the elastic for tying plants to supports.
Grow Bags
Reusable shopping bags can substitute for cloth grow bags in a pinch. Not UV stable, and rarely a fashionable black, they may not look as pretty or help absorb heat like a ‘real’ grow bag, but they will hold your soil, allow air in to the roots and water to drain away. Sounds like a grow bag to me!
If you buy soil in bulk and still have the humongous cubic yard bag laying around, it makes for a good garden bad too. We trimmed one back to about a foot tall, leaving soil in it and placed our raspberries within this. Raspberries take over a garden so having a contained, container of this size was extremely handy in reducing our ongoing garden efforts.
