| by: Cyndi Roberts
Whether you are an avid vegetable gardener, a beginning herb
gardener or just like to have a pretty yard, these frugal tips may
help you save a little money!
1. Stale coffee and coffee grounds make great organic
fertilizer. They provide many trace minerals and low, gentle
levels of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous.
2. Remember that a good soaking of water less often is better
than a light sprinkling every day -- for veggies and for your
lawn.
3. If your neighbor has a plant you particularly like, ask for
a cutting, instead of going to the nursery and buying one. Maybe
you could trade a cutting from one of your own plants.
4. To easily water a tomato plant, bury a bottomless coffee can
next to the plant and pour the water into the can. This allows the
water to go straight to the roots.
5. Plant marigolds in your vegetable garden. They will attract
insects that eat aphids and other pests.
6. My husband bought some used carpet at a garage sale, cut it
into wide strips and laid it down between the rows in our garden.
Now we can pick peas without getting our shoes muddy.
7. Use grass clippings as mulch around your vegetable plants to
keep moisture in and weeds out. Just don't use the clippings right
after you have fertilized your grass or treated for weed control.
8. If you have access to them, pine needles make excellent
mulch.
9. A natural, frugal garden pest spray: mix 1 tablespoon of
liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil. Use 3
tablespoons of this mixture to 1 quart of water and spray on
plants.
10. In the herb garden, to keep plants like mint from taking
over too big an area, put it in a clay pot and simply plant the
whole pot!
"He who plants a garden, plants happiness." |
