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How to cut garden costs

Lifestyle

16/06/2009How to cut garden costs

Keeping costs down can be the hardest landscape challenge you face, according to gardening expert Elaine Jarvis.

Photo blog: Spring on a tight budget

Starting small

Starting with small plants keeps costs under control, but it may take years for your landscape to mature. Larger plants cost more but provide instant results. If you buy large trees, you may need professional help transporting and installing them.

With all plants, the price varies with rarity and quality. For annuals and perennials, buying seed and starting plants indoors is almost always cheaper than purchasing bedding plants. Shoot has a powerful plant database and can connect you with most online seed merchants.

Planning and purchasing

Knowing what plants you need and deciding their placement in advance can save money.

Few people have the financial resources to landscape all at once. Divide your project into phases and budget as you go with the funds available.

Do-it-yourself chains such as Schilliger and Coop offer the lowest prices for common plants and material, but these stores may not have the selection and quality available at a more specialised garden centre, which also provides more personal service, expert advice and guarantees, which are helpful for novices. With some items there is little difference in quality between top-of-the-line and economy. Take advantage of bargains on common annuals and perennials, mulch, paving and containers, but inspect plants closely. Large commercial outlets do not take as good care of their plants as a nursery.

Save money on trees, shrubs, perennials, soil and mulch by buying late in the season. Newly released plant varieties are often expensive. Prices drop when they are more widely commercialised.

Shop online and through mail order sources; the UK has some of the best and most varied catalogues. Check alternate resources. Look beyond garden centres and mail order for bargains. Arboretums and botanical centres often hold plant sales. Associations or neighbours may have extra perennials to share, so being sociable can also cut costs.

Saving water and money

Collect and store rain water with a harvesting system such as barrel or a space saving system like Rainwater Hog.

Most gardeners see their water bills raise in summer as quickly as the temperatures outside. Rain water harvesting systems save money and are good for our environment: it is estimated that rainwater harvesting can save most gardeners about 1,300 gallons of water during the hot summer months, but surprisingly only a small number of gardeners use this. High-pH tap water can also raise the soil pH to levels harmful to shrubs such as rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and gardenias.

A vast amount of the water you apply lovingly to your plants evaporates, so mulch around your trees and shrubs to the maximum. It will also cut down on the chore of weeding, never a favourite pastime of gardeners.

Eat what you grow

Flowers are beautiful but study carefully beforehand what you plant, and privilege the flowers and plants that you can also eat or use to enhance your cooking. Reserve a part of your garden for growing vegetables. Raised beds are preferable; they look good and maintenance is reduced to a minimum.

Here are some useful tips for gardening with vegetables:

Plant vegetables with their looks as well as flavours in mind. Alternate, for example, pretty purple cabbages with snowy white cauliflowers in a row. Or experiment with planting in blocks and clusters rather than rows for a more decorative effect.

Many vegetables lend themselves beautifully to containers. Lettuces in various colours are gorgeous in window boxes. Patio-type tomatoes are ideal in large pots. Hot peppers ripen to rich colours that are attractive when mixed with annual flowers such as marigolds and vinca.

Tomatoes usually grow better in flower beds than they do in the traditional vegetable garden because they should be moved to a different spot each year to prevent disease, and space is often limited in a vegetable patch. Tomatoes also do better when isolated from other tomato plants because disease can't spread as easily from plant to plant.

Lettuces make great edging plants, especially those that are deep red and purple. Plant in a row along the front of a bed or border.

Don't let a little shade deter you from planting vegetables. Fairly shade-tolerant vegetables include beets, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, leaf lettuce, spinach, turnips, radishes, and beans.

Seek out vegetables in bold colours to plant among the flowers. Swiss chard, for example, is available in a rainbow of colours. Or try brilliant yellow sweet peppers.

Pole beans have attractive heart-shaped leaves that are fairly decorative. They're good for planting on arbours, along fences, or on any trellis.

Some mustards and kales have gorgeous autumn colours and are ideal for tucking into containers and borders for colour late in the year. Try Osaka Purple mustard greens or one of the red or purple kales.

Brighten salads with edible flowers. Grow nasturtiums and violas and toss a few petals along with your lettuces into a salad.

Rhubarb is so pretty it's a shame to relegate it to the vegetable garden. Tuck it into the flower bed or border. It's especially nice planted with purple-leaved ajuga or another low-growing ground cover.

If you don't have room for full-sized fruit trees, check out the new miniatures and dwarfs now available. Some grow just 4 or 5 feet tall and are perfect for growing in large pots or whiskey barrels.

Green roofing

Finally, consider installing a green roofing system on your house which will improve thermal insulation while providing savings on energy in the winter and significant saving on air conditioning in the hot summer months. The living roof will provide fresh areas for flora and fauna to thrive in, aiding biodiversity in a place that might otherwise be empty. Plan a prairie garden to fill the empty space that will also support and encourage the natural colonisation of species in your area. The roof can be utilised for a number of purposes, including leisure, and offers unique potential for replacing the land lost to the footprint of the building.

For a free online consultation, to learn more about saving rainwater or green roofing systems, contact Elaine Jarvis at jardinjarvis.

Text and photos by Elaine Jarvis / Expatica 2009

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