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Gardening shortcuts can save
money without compromising
the finished product
Who doesn't want a picture -perfect garden?
After all, if you're going to invest the time
and effort into revamping your landscape you
don't want to cut corners, right?
Actually, you can take shortcuts in the gar-
den to save a lot of money without compro-
mising the finished product.
This mostly involves using some inexpen-
sive items in place of more costly ones when
possible. Here are a few ideas to get you
started. Then use your imagination to cut
costs even further.
Radical recycling: container gardening is an
easy way to add visual appeal to a home.
Containers are generally simple to maintain
and can be moved or changed as whimsy
directs.
Containers come in all sorts of shapes and
sizes, from small terra-cotta pots to large
window boxes. Large containers can be some-
what costly, and filling them to the brim with
rich soil can be even more so.
Instead of spending a fortune, look for inex-
pensive resin containers that have the look of
real ceramic or stone. Fill the bottom half of a
rather large container with crushed up alu-
minum cans and those discarded plastic
flower pots that your annuals were packaged
in at the nursery.
Fill the rest of the container with soil and
you'll save money in the process. Most plants
have shallow roots and they will never even
reach the cans you have in the bottom.
What's more, the containers are much lighter
from this effective "fill," and have improved
drainage.
Use what you've got: why spend a lot of
money on specialty items that cost more
when you can use what you have around the
house, or modify inexpensive gardening tools
for your purposes?
For example, many at-home gardeners
enjoy the look of topiaries in their yard.
Topiary forms can be $20 or more, depending
upon size.
Instead, use a tomato plant cage with the
ends tied off to mimic a similar shape. The
cages cost a fraction of the "forms," and no
one will know the difference once your topi-
ary has filled it out.
Make your own soil: pre-packaged garden-
ing blends cost more than if you whip up
some on your own. The cost is even less if you
mix in some home-grown compost.
Creating a rich soil can be as simple as
mixing in some fallen leaves that you've let
sit in a trash bag over the winter with some
ventilation holes cut in it. Mix the leaf debris
into your soil for spring planting.
Grocery gardening: you can experiment
with planting produce from the grocery story.
Whether you have garlic cloves that are past
their prime or potatoes you want to discard,
try planting them in the yard to see if you can
obtain a new crop.
Other things to experiment with include
avocado pits, citrus seeds, pineapple tops,
and more. There's no harm in taking a chance
at expanding your garden for no additional
cost.
Grow lettuce: salads are the quintessential
diet food. But those bowls of mixed greens
can be pricey if eaten out, or even if you pur-
chase pre -mixed salad from a store.
You can grow your own lettuce varieties rel-
atively easily and cultivate what you need for
personal use. Add a little homemade dressing
and you have a light meal.
Grass clippings add nutrients
back into your lawn
Each summer, homeowners across the
country discard a valuable resource that
can help their lawns in a number of ways.
Under the false impression that grass
clippings cause thatch, many homeowners
discard their clippings in garbage bags they
tote curbside.
However, the best thing to do with clip-
pings is to allow them to fall back to the
turf.
When allowing clippings to fall back, up
to 25 percent of the fertilizer nutrients are
returned to the turf.
Grass clippings are 85 to 90 per cent
water and nutrients, including nitrogen,
phosphorous and potassium. For clippings
to be effective, mowing the lawn regularly
and not letting the grass get too high is
essential.
A good tool to use is a mulching mower,
which boasts unique decks and blades that
actually suspend clippings, allowing them
to be cut into small pieces, perfect for
falling back to the turf.
Mulching mowers, however, are not effec-
tive in tall or wet grass, giving homeowners
another reason to keep their grass fromget-
ting too tall between cuts.
The Huron Expositor • May 9, 2007 Page 13
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