Garden center clearance season can feel like the gardening equivalent of finding a forgotten twenty-dollar bill in an old jacket. The big summer rush has passed, shelves start looking a little picked over, and suddenly useful garden supplies can become much easier to justify. The trick is knowing which bargains deserve space in the garage…
frugal gardening
10 Plants You Should Divide in Fall Instead of Buying New Ones Next Year
Fall has a sneaky little gardening superpower: it can turn one established perennial into several new plants without sending a single dollar to the garden center. Dividing certain perennials now gives each section room to develop roots before winter, while also giving crowded plants a much-needed reset. The trick involves knowing which plants actually enjoy…
You May Be Throwing Away Garden Supplies That Could Last Another Year
Garden season can trick you into thinking perfectly good supplies are objects that look ready for retirement. A muddy hand trowel, a slightly rusty pair of pruners, a half-full bag of potting mix, or a stack of dirty nursery pots can seem destined for the garbage, especially when the garden starts winding down. But “looks…
9 Things Gardeners Should Never Throw Away at the End of Summer
The end of summer can make a garden look like it has nothing left to offer. Spent plants, half-used seed packets, empty nursery pots, piles of leaves, and crooked tomato stakes can quickly resemble a collection of gardening junk, but much of that “junk” still has a job to do. A little sorting can save…
Some of the Best Garden Bargains of the Year Show Up After Summer Ends
The calendar says summer is winding down, but garden-center bargain season is just getting interesting. Once the big rush for colorful annuals fades, many nurseries and garden centers start clearing space, which can create excellent opportunities to pick up plants and supplies for less. That does not mean every sad-looking plant in the clearance section…
8 Fall Garden Purchases That Are Usually Cheaper at the End of Summer
The calendar may still say summer, but garden centers are already thinking about fall. That shift can create one of the best shopping opportunities of the gardening year, especially for plants, pots, tools, and other seasonal supplies that stores would rather sell than store. A giant markdown sign can make almost anything look like a…
10 Garden Expenses That Aren’t Worth Paying for in September
September can make gardeners spend their money on things the garden never asked for. Garden centers fill up with colorful plants, bags of mysterious amendments, shiny tools, and products promising to solve problems that might disappear on their own once cooler weather settles in. But September also gives gardeners a chance to save. A little…
7 Garden Plants You Should Stop Spending Money On Every Year
Garden centers make it dangerously easy to buy the same plants every spring, even when several reliable garden favorites can keep coming back without another trip to the checkout counter. A handful of herbs and ornamentals can return for years, spread naturally, or produce enough new plants to make that annual shopping habit look a…
A Practical Guide to Garden Purchases That Are Usually Cheaper After Peak Season
Garden shopping has a funny habit of making the most expensive items look irresistible right when they are least urgent. Once spring and early summer demand fades, however, many garden centers and retailers need to move seasonal inventory, which can create much better opportunities for careful shoppers. That shift makes late summer and early fall…
6 Ways to Stretch a Small Garden Budget Into Fall
A garden budget can disappear surprisingly fast. A few seed packets here, a bag of potting mix there, then suddenly a perfectly innocent trip to the garden center has turned into a receipt that deserves its own zip code. Fall gardening does not have to work that way, though, because the garden already contains plenty…