Happy Friday everyone! You may not have missed my regular post on Monday but if you did, it was just because I’ve been a bit under the weather this week and distinctly lacking in energy.
My little girl (G) is having nightmares every night at the moment which apparently is a normal development thing but the result is broken sleep every night for between 1-2 hours. Not good especially when I have to be up at 6.45am for work!
Anyway, needless to say, I’m looking forward to the weekend. 🙂 How’s your week gone so far?
I thought I would ask if anyone has any frugal gardening tips for creating a low maintenance (yet pretty) garden. The hubby and I are rubbish at gardening and so we just have a concrete yard to look at. I personally have been known to accidentally kill more than one cactus before.
We rent our property so we don’t want to spend a lot of money (and we can’t anyway) but we would like to jazz up the yard a little bit so we can at least look at something else this Summer instead of plain old concrete. We can’t make any drastic changes so digging up the concrete is a definite no no. I’ve found lots of fantastic ideas online where ugly yards have been transformed into a beautiful green sanctuary, but they all seem to have a huge price attached to them to achieve such an effect.
So if you’re a green fingered reader or blogger, please do chip in by commenting if you have any advice on:
- What are the best things to grow that are cheap and easy to maintain?
- How can I transform a concrete yard ground area into something nicer without spending a fortune?
- Where can I get seeds, plants and any other gardening type things cheaply?
Any frugal tips would be much appreciated!
On another note, thank you to Thomas from I Need Money ASAP! for including my post on How to make a relationship work if you’re in debt in the Carnival of Financial Camaraderie recently. Also thanks to Maria from The Money Principle for including the same post in the Carnival of Money Pros.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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15 Comments
So sorry to hear about your little one, I feel your pain! My daughter is cutting 4 teeth and having a tough time with it, also wake at 645 but shes been up ready to party at like 6-615 every morning. Ugh.
In terms of plants get stuff, like you said that is relatively low maintenance. I dont know where you live but I love Hostas. Theyre driverse and beautiful. They’re also incredibly difficult to kill haha. Plant bulbs (spring anf fall usually) that just regrow! My favorite are lillies and dhalias, both spring bubs too so you have time. Look at perennial grasses too, spme are very pretty. Maybe some evergreens like boxwoods or cedars as well? Also check out yoir local library for books. In terms of where to buy, we have garden centers everywhere come May. I always buy plans not seeds since I dont have time or patience to nurture them into plants! Good luck 🙂
Catherine recently posted…Sometimes You Need To Spend Money To Save Money: Heat Pump Edition
Hey Hayley and wow…what a week!! Hope you’re feeling better and that G gets through this stage of development quickly.
As for frugal gardening…ya got me there!! I think I may be like you and would do more harm to plants and flowers than good! Which is why I like artificial plants. I have a couple in my apartment and they look like the real thing but thankfully, not in need of any TLC!
How about thrift shop garden furniture instead?
Good luck and I’m sure others will be more helpful!!
Take care, get some sleep and have a smashing weekend 🙂
My best to all.
Lyle
lyle @ the Joy of Simple recently posted…Are You Ready For The Simple?
PS: I was going to mention that you should visit Lois over at http://living-simply-free.com for this type of info.
She’ll have plenty of sage advice to offer I’m sure 🙂
Take care and my best to all.
Lyle
lyle @ the Joy of Simple recently posted…Are You Ready For The Simple?
Thank you Lyle! I think I’ve seen Lois’s blog before and I will head over for further insight! 🙂
Awe hope your daughter gets through this phase soon! I’m in the same boat as you. I have a little garden box that the previous tenant built, but I’m pretty terrible about knowing what to do with it. Tomatoes are the only thing I’ve been able to successfully grow. A rookie mistake I made though is planting too many close together. They grow big and can get overcrowded. Anyway, that’s the only tip I can give.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Making Bad Emotional Decisions
Hi Hayley! I don’t have any gardening tips for you, I have a black thumb, but I do hope you and your daughter get back to “normal” soon. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Shoeaholicnomore recently posted…Budget Check 4/11/2013
Thanks Shoey! Hope you had a lovely weekend! 🙂
I’m not sure where you live but I would suggest container gardening or raised beds. You’ll need to water often. Make sure you start with good quality soil & (homemade) compost. I find tomatoes, swiss chard, herbs and lettuce are the easiest to grow. Have you looked on Pinterest for ideas? I would say the biggest bang for your buck would be veggies. Hope that helps!
Hi Liliane, thanks for stopping by! I live in the UK, we have a reasonable Summer but a tough Winter most years. Great tips, thank you! 🙂 I have to be honest, I have never made homemade compost… is it just vegetable peelings etc? How do you mulch them up?
Sorry to hear about your little one – those nightmares are so tough for kids. 🙁 As far as the garden, like Catherine, I love the hostas, and tulips are another of my favorites: they’re relatively cheap, super bright and colorful, and require little to no maintenance! A few tulips and hostas and things would brighten up big time in your concrete yard. 🙂
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer recently posted…Garden 2014 Update
Thanks Laurie! Last night, both myself and G had a good night’s sleep. The first night for ages – let’s hope it continues! Thanks for the gardening advice, tulips and hostas sounds good to me!
How about a couple of specimen bonsai trees? They look amazing, it’s a great hobby, and they’re easy maintenance if you know what you’re doing, although I have killed a few over the years I’ll admit :-(….Also they’re portable should you decide to move house. Some of them could even make great long term investments, as prized specimens are worth thousands!
Hope you’re feeling better soon Hayley.
Wealth Tortoise recently posted…You, Me, Judgemental Heuristics And Investing
Thanks for this Wealth Tortoise! This sounds interesting – are bonsai trees expensive to buy in the first place do you know? How big do they grow?
From a mom to a mom, I hope your little angel will be okay soon and you too, I hopeb are totally okay now. I only have a green-ish thumb, sadly. That means I love plants and flowers and gardening but the hobby doesn’t seem to like me. 🙁 I tried because I believe in try and try until you succeed. Nah, no luck! I hope in gardening only.
Jen @Sprout Wealth recently posted…Make Money Series – The Basics of Affiliate Marketing
Thanks Jen! I’ve had a go at some container plants this weekend. We’ll see what happens with them!