Purdue Extension Service

Vanderburgh County, Indiana

More Ways to Save Green in the Garden

By Larry Caplan, Extension Horticulture Educator, Vanderburgh County, IN

For the Evansville Courier and Press, January 25, 2009

My recent "gardening on a budget" article drew a lot of responses from people, so I thought I'd add to the list of ways folks can still have a beautiful yard while pinching pennies.

*Don't overplant.* Many gardeners and landscapers try to cram too many shrubs and flowers into their landscapes, because they want the bed to look full when they are finished. They forget that these plants will grow and fill in the bed over their lifetimes. When planting, space the plants as far apart as recommended in Purdue literature. This will allow the plants to grow optimally, without competing with each other for room, sunlight, or water.

*Spread your planting out over time.* If money is tight, consider planting a landscape over 2 or 3 years instead of all at once. Start with trees, since they'll take the longest to mature. Follow that over the next couple of seasons with shrubs and flowers. If you're planting flowers, buy and plant one or two flats in one month, and the remainder the following month, to put your purchases on different pay periods. And be sure to plant them after the frost date, so you don't have to replant!

*Use less expensive alternatives.* Instead of buying fancy cypress mulch, use cheaper hardwood mulch. Most garden centers have a wide range of products and prices. And while you may have brand loyalty for certain company's fertilizer or pest control products, see if another company's product, with a comparable percent active ingredient, is a better bargain.

*Cut back on the number of treatments.* Purdue recommendations for a "good" quality lawn calls for three fertilizations per year, but you can get by with just one if you apply a slow-release product in September. Grub control should only need to be done once, in late July or early August, and only if you have enough grubs in the yard to be actually causing visible damage.

A word of caution: don't try to cut so many corners that you risk ruining your landscape or harming your family. If you're using a lawn service that has been giving you good results for a long time, don't drop them for a cheaper company. There have been cases in the past with low-bidders stealing customers from established companies, and not being very conscientious with the amount or quality of products they were using. The result was thin, weedy lawns that took years to build back up to their prior beauty.

Don't substitute household products for labeled yard and garden products. Household ammonia does contain nitrogen, but it's highly dangerous to use in the garden. Dish detergent is cheaper than insecticidal soap, but it's not been designed or labeled for use on plants. Avoid using recipes for homemade "tonics" and other pest-control products; there is no guarantee they'll work, and you may damage your plant or contaminate your yard.

For more information on your yard and garden, contact the Purdue Extension Service at (812) 435-5287.