Julia’s Garden by Allie’s.Dad
TheGardenLady has invited people with horticultural interests and expertise to contribute posts to this blog. The following post is about saving money on gardening and was submitted by Rachael Miller. She is is part of the vouchers team at moneysupermarket.com, which sponsored this post.
A garden can be your sanctuary- a place to relax, to host parties and even to grow your own food. The problem is that creating your sanctuary can take up a lot of time and be expensive. If you have green fingers, doing a spot of gardening may be your idea of heaven, but the hefty price tags for flowers, plants, garden furniture etc, can be hell for your bank balance. Read this guide on how to get gardening products for less.
- Use vouchers. You might not associate vouchers with buying gardening products, however seeing as the vouchers market has grown by 50% year on year since the beginning of the recession, more and more retailers are deciding to offer discounts. Before buying any gardening equipment, be sure to check for vouchers for the specific retailer you’ll be buying from. You might be able to get some B&Q vouchers, or money off discounts for other big gardening retailers. You can save a lot of money by taking advantage of the growing vouchers market, so never buy anything without one!
- Shop online – this is another thing you might not associate with gardening, but you can grab some great bargains by shopping for anything garden related online. You can find some excellent products such as weed killer, compost, garden furniture and ornaments- things that you don’t necessarily have to see up close before you purchase. Plants are a different matter as you’ll more than likely want to see these before you buy. Also, see what people are selling- you may find you can get great deals on auctions sites. Shopping online is a great way to compare products and their prices.
Great Comp Garden in the Round by antonychammond
- Get your timing right. Timing is very important as everything is geared around the seasons. The summer is ending soon, so now would be the best time to get the best deals on barbecue equipment.  Likewise, a lot of perennial plants are getting past their best and being reduced at garden centers. These plants may seem a bit worse for wear but will grow back fine next year. This is a great way to save money as you’ll already have a good range of plants ready to bud for next summer- and you won’t need to spend a penny after the initial purchase.
- Buy bedding plants at the very beginning of the season and keep them indoors/in a greenhouse until its warm enough to plant out. When the weather starts warming up there will be more of a demand for bedding plants which could mean garden centers could hike up the prices to coincide with the busy season.
- Buy in bulk. Group together with friends if they need the same equipment, such as turf, topsoil, bedding plants and you might be able to secure yourself a discount for buying in higher quantities.
- Garden centers and suppliers can be pretty competitive, so if you find a product from another store which is cheaper, make sure you let the other stores know. They may refund you the difference or even re-price their stock to become more in line with what other companies are offering.
Middle Garden Spring by Four Seasons Garden