Gardening can be an expensive enterprise, especially if you enjoy collecting new and different plants for your yard. But if you choose wisely, having a wonderful garden doesn’t have to break the bank. Here are some tips for getting the most for your money in your garden.

Bee balm spreads quickly and is easy to grow.

Shop Smart

• Buy Entire Flats: For groundcovers and bedding plants, you can often get a discount if you buy an entire flat (container) of individual plants. The plants are smaller, but there are more of them.
• Look for Discards: When I worked at a plant nursery, I couldn’t stand to see a plant go to the compost pile, so I took many of them home. Granted, most of them were discarded for a reason, but those that survived turned out to be beautiful specimens I never would have otherwise chosen. Check with your local garden center to see if they have any scraggly plants destined for the dumpster.


Saving seeds lowers costs.

• Choose Wisely: Bulbs, grasses, and perennials often are the best value, because many spread or can be divided. Some of my favorite garden-filling perennials are bee balm, daylilies, hostas, painter’s palette (persicaria), and muhly grass.
• Watch for Sales: Charities, garden clubs, and greenhouses often host plant sales throughout the growing season. Often these plants are less expensive than at retail centers, and they have the added benefit of being locally grown.
• Shop Seasonally: For the best prices, buy plants when they aren’t blooming. Fall and spring are great times to plant perennials, shrubs, trees, and bulbs, and you can often get off season discounts if you’re willing to wait.
• Buy Small: Size matters when buying plants, since larger plants of the same type generally cost more. Some items – like foundation shrubs – might be worth the extra price for larger plants. For perennials and smaller accent plants, buying a smaller size can save you a bundle. But be sure to check the pots – many gallon-size pots actually have two or three plants packed in there, which can be divided up when you get home.

Shopping end-of-season plant sales can save money.

Grow Your Own

• Start Seeds: A $2 seed packet can contain hundreds of seeds. Learn to start plants from seed and enjoy the fun of browsing the wintertime seed catalogs!
• Buy in Bulk: Join up with your friends and save money by buying seeds in bulk.
• Save Seeds: With many heirloom and native plants, you can save and dry the seeds yourself for planting next year. This is a satisfying way both to save money and to be self-sufficient.

Starting plants from seeds is much more affordable than buying plants!

Share the Love

• Take Cuttings: Rooting cuttings is very satisfying, and you can create new plants for no more than the cost of rooting hormone and potting soil.
• Divide and Conquer: Learn to divide clumping plants and grasses in order to spread them out.


Divide and share your plants.

• Ask for Sprouts: Most gardeners are thrilled to share their garden abundance. If you’re new to gardening, you may not yet understand this, but it is possible to have too many plants! Like the mountain of irises I once found piled on the roadside, one person’s overcrowding is another person’s bonanza. Don’t be afraid to ask for sprigs and plant divisions, and be sure to share yours in return.
• Have a Plant Swap: During the fall or spring, invite neighbors to bring plant divisions, cuttings, and seeds to share.
• Scavenge with Permission: Sometimes you can find lovely plants growing in the wild, such as ferns and wildflowers. But before you dig, make sure you have permission, and take only a small specimen leaving plenty to grow. Keep in mind that collecting plants without a permit is illegal in many state and national parks and forests.
• Join a Club: Many garden clubs host plant swaps and sales – be a part of it!

My red buckeye, rescued from the compost heap.

Garden Wisely

• Don’t Fight Losing Battles: Grow plants that will be happy in your yard, rather than trying to change your yard to fit the plant. You’ll be amazed how much cheaper it is to grow native plants that thrive without a lot of TLC. Don’t plant things you’ll have to hand water, and don’t plant tender things that can be killed by your winters.
• Choose Plants that Last: Perennials, shrubs, and bulbs provide enjoyment year after year, whereas annuals have to be replaced every spring. Plan your garden around lasting beauty, and use the annuals for pops of color in containers.
• Enrich the Soil: Learn how to compost, and keep adding that good organic matter back to your soil. Your plants will be healthier, larger, and a much better value if planted in good soil.

Further Information

• How to Buy End of Season Bargain Plants (article)
• How to Divide and Transplant Perennials (article)
• Grow, Baby, Grow! (article)
• Perennial Flower Garden Basics (article)
• Economical Flowers (video)

Tags: , buy flats, plant size, save money gardening, start seeds, take cuttings