Gardening looks like an easy, cheap thing to do at first glance. But if you’re not careful, it can get pretty pricey, even if you don’t buy all the newest, coolest gardening tools! Here are six ways to save money on planting supplies that will help you keep your costs down.
Buy Used
It’s fun to get brand-new, shiny “designer” gardening tools, but they don’t look brand-new for long! It makes a lot of sense to buy used gardening tools, even if they’re a little dirty and scratched since they will be used outside in the dirt (and maybe even left out in the rain!).
Garage sales and Goodwill are great places to find cheap gardening tools as long as they work and aren’t old or broken. Furthermore, you may check out Facebook groups called “Buy, Sell, Trade.”
Shop the Dollar Store
Although dollar-store gardening tools aren’t the best quality, they usually work fine and are a great deal. This is especially true if you’ve never gardened before.
What’s the point of buying expensive gardening tools right away if you’re not sure if you’ll enjoy them? Purchase trowels, buckets, and inexpensive flower seeds at the dollar store instead!
Make Your Own
Gardening may sound like an easy and cheap thing to do, but it has become more difficult over the years. So, if you buy everything you need for gardening from gardening catalogs, it can get pricey! You could do some jobs yourself to get around this problem and still have the tools you need.
Create your own raised beds or row cover hoop houses. Even a drip watering system that you could make yourself is possible!
Buy Seeds
If you want to save money on gardening supplies, you need to buy seeds, even though buying young plants is more convenient. Less than $1 will get you a packet of flower seeds, and two or three dollars will bring you a packet of organic vegetable seeds!
Investing in seeds and patiently waiting for them to sprout is a more cost-effective option, especially when you consider how much you may harvest from a single packet.
Trade with Friends
Does everyone in your inner circle enjoy gardening? Then you probably have access to a wide variety of wholesale garden supply between your own and your friends’ collections! You can save spending a fortune on gardening supplies by doing this!
Shop Smart
Your best bet for saving money when shopping is to be strategic. Before you buy anything, make sure to look through the circulars at your neighborhood garden supply stores for any coupons. Your local store’s loyalty card or membership in their loyalty club can be useful, too, depending on your shopping habits.
If you buy your gardening supplies at the end of each season, you can save money. All year round, you can get gardening materials at most stores. However, during spring and summer, they tend to push outdoor items more.
In the fall and winter, you’ll see more of a focus on indoor gardening, garden decor, and grass maintenance. Keep an eye on the shops around you when the seasons change; you never know when amazing deals might be waiting for you!