Creating an Affordable Garden from Scratch, Entry # 1, or “you can do it!”

You walk into your local greenhouse and are immediately overwhelmed by the profusion of colors, blooms, smells, and textures.  You consult a tag–how much will one foxglove set you back?  $10 bucks.  According to the Pinterest garden plan you printed out, you need 5 foxglove.  What to do? Rather than purchasing $50 dollars worth of plants or more, you set the pot down and leave the greenhouse, disappointed that a lovely garden space seems to be out of reach.

This scenario is fairly common, I think. We’ve all been enchanted by images in Better Homes and Gardens, House Beautiful, and other magazines and books.  Images like these: (for the original source, please click the image)

 

And while these images picture glorious garden grandeur, how on earth can such a space be attainable for those of us who don’t have a large garden budget, a professional landscaper, or the hard won know-how?

I wish there were 5 easy steps I could prescribe: Do this, then this, then this…(though that’s only 3, you get the idea!).  That’s not the case, obviously.  Most aspiring gardeners are instead put off by their lack of knowledge of where to even begin.  And that’s where my start as a gardener might inform and inspire yours.

 

I’ve always loved to dig in the dirt, which, not surprisingly has worked in my favor as an avid gardener.  I remember weeding the vegetable garden as a kid, and even then, zenning out as I pulled the weeds.  This is extra surprising, seeing as this was an assigned chore every summer.  I’m weird, I know.  Ask my friends.  I planted a few annuals as a teen and always enjoyed their growth and subsequent blooms.

However, my real development as a gardener began after I married my man, Thad.  We rented a little place on a lake and our landlords had lovely perennial beds.  I tended the beds, learning the plants’ names, where they thrived, and their bloom times.  Around this same time, I worked two seasons in a greenhouse: watering plants (annuals and perennials), learning to recognize different types of foliage and plants, and deadheading.  Both of these experiences armed me with basic plant knowledge.  Then, I read a lot.  As you’ve more than likely gathered by now, I love old things–plants included.  I spent hours reading about old/heirloom varieties of roses, petunias, clematis, daffodils–you name it.  In the process of this self-education I discovered Select Seeds and Seed Savers, both organizations/businesses that sell and promote heirloom seeds.

 

We bought our first place in 2005: a very dilapidated 1981 Schultz trailer house on 5 overgrown acres.  Given that we were young and generally stupidish at the time, we thought it was the best thing ever.  In actuality, it was not; but, the price was right.  In essence, we bought bare land that included 2 incredibly uneven concrete slabs, a small overgrown garden, a driveway, a well, a septic, and electric.  It was a blank slate.

We didn’t build a house right away but instead lived in the trailer for 5 years before starting to build our current home.  In the interim, I gardened like a madwoman–experimenting with perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, etc.  While I didn’t spend a ton of money during one season, over the course of the 10 years we’ve lived at our current address I’ve poured a tidy sum into my gardens.  And, truthfully, though I’ve lost a fair number of plants/shrubs/and trees, it’s been worth every penny.  So, you might be asking: how does one affordably develop a cottage garden? Know what plants you can effectively grow from seed.  Identify staple plants in the cottage garden.  Learn the general growing habits of these staples. In sum,  learn from my mistakes and successes.

If you’re intrigued, and want to know more about how I’ve spent the last 10 years developing various gardens, consider reading forthcoming posts in this series.  I’ll cover site preparation, plant selection, annuals vs. perennials and why both are valuable, different types of gardens, and other crucial elements to a developing a garden space.

In short,  you can do it!  You can create the garden(s) you see in your minds eye; you don’t need a professional landscaper or a crazy big budget; some budget, yes, but with any luck, you’ll know what to buy, where to put it and how to get the most bloom for your dollar.

To all you aspiring gardeners out there, I repeat: you can do it!

Intrigued?  Read the rest of the series:  Entry # 2, Entry # 3, Entry # 4, Entry # 5, and Entry# 6.