By Faith Peppers
University of Georgia
Volume XXVIII
|
Gardening can be an expensive hobby. But, it doesn’t have to
be. You can have
beautiful flower gardens or bountiful vegetable gardens
without spending a fortune.
“One of the biggest costs to gardeners is pesticides,” said
Marco Fonseca,
the Master Gardener coordinator for the University of Georgia
Extension Service,
in Griffin, Ga. “You can cut those costs by buying high-
quality plants.”
Timing trick
The trick to getting good plants is timing.
“Most garden centers put out fresh, new plants on Thursday
and Friday,” Fonseca
said. “Saturday’s high traffic can leave plants trampled and
mishandled.”
On Monday, plants can be damaged and mislabeled from the busy
weekend gardeners.
“Monday is not a good day to buy vegetables,” he said.
Seedy decision
Save money on seedling plants for vegetables that have large
seeds, too. “Never
buy plants that have large seeds like cucumbers, squash,
melons, corn or beans,”
Fonseca said.
“Some people feel like you’re buying time by buying
seedlings,” he said. “But
you aren’t, because these seeds will germinate and grow at
about the same rate
as the seedlings.”
Problems are more likely to arise with transplants than
seeds, too, he said.
“In most cases, those plants don’t grow very well until the
soil temperature
is around 65 or 75 degrees,” he said. “That’s when the seeds
will germinate
anyway. So just plant seeds for these vegetables.”
Start with fresh seeds
Some gardeners swear by saving seeds from year to year to
shave cents off the
price of gardening. Fonseca says it may be more trouble than
it’s worth.
“I don’t think it’s worth saving seed from one year to the
next,” he said.
“Seeds are probably the (smallest) expense in the garden.
Plus, companies change
cultivars all the time. They grow and harvest seeds from all
over the United
States and the world, and they also have very modern,
temperature-controlled
storage.”
Saving seeds on your own requires growing the plants to seed,
collecting the
seeds and then properly drying and storing them for next
season. That’s not
so easy under uncontrolled conditions.
Fertilizer costs
Another big expense in the garden is fertilizer. Two things
can help you cut
these costs: compost and soil tests.
Home compost bins can help you improve the condition of your
soil and add nutrients
back into the soil. All you need are a few supplies to build
the bin and plenty
of grass clippings, leaves and food scraps to make compost.
Many gardeners waste money on fertilizer by using too much or
the wrong type.
A simple soil test can help you find out precisely what your
soil needs so you
don’t overfertilize.
“The most economical way to fertilize your garden is by using
slow-release
fertilizer based on the recommendation for your soil
analysis,” Fonseca said.
Precious water
One of the most precious garden expenditures, besides sweat,
is water. While
the drought is all but over in Georgia and many areas have
eased watering restrictions,
it’s still a good idea to conserve.
“Water only when needed,” Fonseca said. “Often just once a
week is more than
sufficient.”
He also recommends installing low-cost soil meters
(tensiometers) to let you
know when and how much to water.
To get more information on gardening to conserve water or
Xeriscaping (water-wise
planting), or to get a soil test kit, contact your county UGA
Extension office.
(Faith Peppers is a news editor with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.)
