Physicians and mental health experts will tell you to start gardening and spending time with nature all the time. They say that it’s the most natural way to combat stress, anxiety, and depression. Older people take up gardening as their hobby because it’s a great physical activity. Do you know that one hour of gardening can burn more than 400 calories? You shed off those pounds without slaving it over on the treadmill or the track.
Unloved Plants
But gardening can also be quite expensive. Many have the notion that you cannot have a pretty garden without spending hundreds of dollars on it. Wrong. You can find cheap plants in a plant nursery in Salt Lake City or other cities. There are plenty of plant nurseries that sell unhealthy-looking plants for a dime. Sometimes, they’ll give it away for free.
Frugal gardeners know this tip too, well. What you need to do is to go to the back of the plant nursery near the trash bins. Walk as far away from the main retail area as possible. You’ll find some unloved plants at the back. Ask the retailer if you can have those for a discount. Many of them will be so glad you want to take them that they’ll give them away for free. They, of course, don’t like to throw plants away even if they look wilted and unhealthy.
Trading
Trade with your neighbor. If you want something from their garden, maybe you can exchange it with something from your yard. If they don’t want any plant or flower or herb from your garden, ask simply if you can cut off a branch so that you can propagate the plants. If you have a great relationship with your neighbors, they shouldn’t mind at all.
Rescue
Drive up and down your street during trash days. Many of the people in your street will throw away shrubs, flowers, tree branches, and even potted plants when they are trying to declutter. You can rescue these plants and breathe life on them. And even if you don’t intend to keep them, rescue them from the trash bin, spruce them up, and give them away as gifts to your plant-loving friends. These plants should never be thrown away in a landfill.
Compost
Make your own compost. It is fairly easy to make. It’s mostly composed of things that you already have in your houses such as eggshells, grass clippings, vegetable peelings, tea bags, paper, and fallen leaves. You’ll have to wait for three months to one year for the compost to become available for use. Still, that’s better than buying synthetic chemicals that might only hurt your plants.
Creativity
Be creative in finding pots that you can use for your plants and flowers. You can use light bulbs, glasses, empty cans, and basically anything that you can turn into planters. Read up on how you can add height and weight to your garden. You can mix up different textured plants in one pot. You can create your own oasis by recycling and upcycling things in your house.
Remember that you should not be impatient when it comes to your horticulture projects. It will take time for your plants to grow. Resist the urge to buy expensive plants and gardening tools. Start with the basics and master them first.
