"Cheap" or "free" sounds too good to be true, right? It's not so all the time though. Below are some ways yo can get plants at $0 cost or at ridiculously low prices. 1. Place an ad on Craiglist asking fellow gardeners for . . . well you can call it assistance if you please. Since it costs nothing it's worth the effort. 2. Local nurseries normally have limited space. From time to time, they have get rid of seedlings they are unable to sell especially if they've grown too big. Pay them a visit, find out whether they have some plants which they intend to get rid of and offer to help them "get rid" of them. 3. If have any friends who are gardeners, ask them to prove their friendship in deeds = free plants given to you. 4. Most gardeners tend to be generous especially when they are flattered. Compliment a stranger you find on their gardening skills then ask them nicely if you can have a cutting or free plant. Gardening doesn't need to be expensive!
That is so true! Most gardeners need to divide up their plants so that their gardens can grow and stay healthy. What a great idea. They can also feel like they are contributing to a good cause! I love it!
Most of the time the best way to get free plants is to share it with your neighbours. i'm sure that most of the neighbours will have plants that are different from yours. If the both of you will have a mutual feeling of exchanging and making your garden healthy and beautiful, then it is beneficial for both of you.
Great tips. Another is that even local big box stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart tend to have plants. Any that start looking a little rough are frequently put on clearance. If you have a green thumb, you can get them for super cheap and nurse them back to help. Just know that sometimes they're too far gone and you're not going to be able to salvage a particular plant.
Large supermarkets can be a great place to get plants from. Like Jessi, I like to buy the reduced to clear stragglers and bring them back to health. They are ridiculously cheap in my local superstore so are always worth getting, as long as they aren't too far gone.
I am a big garage sale fan and you would be amazed how many free cuttings and plants I have received while at these sales. I only got back into gardening a few years ago, so I am curious about plants and usually strike up conversations with people about what is growing in their yards. I've not only got free cuttings and a few plants but also the knowledge to care for them. I totally agree with your statement " Gardening need not be expensive"
Swapping plants with neigboors is a great way to get some free plants to add to your garden. All you really need to do, I have found, is advertise that you are looking for some free plants and you will usually receive them in droves. Many people don't think to give their extra plants to others and will simply throw them away or compost them. I used to do that until I realized that others might want my scraps and leftovers.
I find that buying seeds and growing plants at home is the least expensive way to go. My neighbor also has a garden and often brings me samples that I can replant and grow from a stem or seed. I am far from a green thumb, but I enjoy the gratification of growing my own plants, fruits and vegetables.
I think that buying seeds of plants can be the best way to get plants at a very cheap price. My dad does that all the time. Also, if you're celebrating your birthday or if it's Christmas time already, then make it known that you want free plants, so that people who would want to give you a gift will buy you a plant or it's seeds.
I never pay for my plants, and don't understand why anyone would, really. If I see a plant that I like in the garden of a friend or family member I will ask whether they will allow me to take a cutting of that plant. Usually, they don't have a problem with it, and this means that I am able to take it and plant it in my own garden. They will normally take, but sometimes they won't thrive and I will have to try it with a second cutting, perhaps in a different part of the garden. You should always try to get things like this for free if you can, because you will find that garden centres charge a lot of money for them.
Did you know that you can get vegetable plants and vegetable seeds using your Food Stamps?? I discovered this wonderful benefit several years ago and buy a few plants every year. I do not have a large spot for vegies, so this is nice. I just buy a couple of tomato and pepper plants every year and it keeps the gardener in my happy.
I'll always ask to take a cutting of a plant which catches my eye too. I always return the favor with a tomato or chilli plant as I always end up with far too many of them. I can't remember the last time I actually paid for a plant. Besides taking cuttings, I also save seeds.
When I see a plant I like I ask the owner for a clipping that I can take home and root. I get cheap plants from the grocery store that look like they are about to die and put on clearence just so the store can get rid of them.
I got my favorite rose bush because I stopped for a yard sale. They didnt have anything I wanted, but they did have a huge, beautiful rose bush. It had pretty, big pink roses. I just asked the lady if I could cut a little piece off. She had no problem with it so I brought it home and now I have my own pink rose bush for free
I think you can actually start your own avocado plant just from the seed that is in every avocado. I'm sure one could find instructions online on how to do so. I believe it requires suspending the large seed in a glass of water for a few weeks until it sprouts. Other than that, if I wanted really cheap plants I would wait until they were off-season and then buy them. I got a couple of bushes one time that were looking pretty worn out by the end of the summer, so I got them for half price. I took them home, planted them and gave them some TLC and they turned out fantastic.
I use seeds I get out of my watermelons each year. When I find a particularly tasty watermelon, the first thing I do is collect the seeds. I've actually had quite a bit of luck with them. Now that you bring it up, though, I'll have to find out what else I can do that with
You can also try nature festivals. I went to one last year and to every person that signed up for their newsletter they gave two tickets stubs so that you can get a treeling for each stub. They had many to choose from but a limited amount of each. I was able to bring home two. I doubt they'll grow much though because I don't have a yard so I ended up planting them in these big pots. It was a great thing to so though because we need more trees.
I do this. I also sometimes post an add offering to help people in exchange for cuttings/plants. So I might help a nice elderly lady weed for a bit or divide plants that need divided and then take home cuttings or extras. Also, I watch the 'free' section of craigslist. I have gotten a lot of bulb plants that way in the fall. People offer stuff free if you dig it up. I don't mind doing some physical labor for plants that I want.
I have never had any problems getting the plants that I wanted for my garden for absolutely nothing more than a nice conversation and a smile. I used to live in the countryside for many years, where the soil was very fertile and plants just thrived in the mild climate. I always preferred to grow edible things, so, with all the down-to-earth and pragmatic people around me, I hardly ever had to buy any seedlings or seeds.
Some of my plants have come from public places. For example, a nearby strip mall had a peace lily growing outside of the Metro PCS store. The bored looking employee didn't say anything when I took a cutting of the plant and walked away. My cactus cutting came from a plant growing outside of a TJ Maxx. The security guard just looked at me and yawned. And the CVS pharmacy employee didn't even stop her phone conversation when I walked off with a baby pup plant from one of the bromeliads outside the store. No matter which store in the strip mall I take cuttings from, absolutely nothing happens. This is one of the more sketchy and slightly tacky way of getting cuttings but it works.
