Not everyone is a gardening expert. Some find that within weeks of planting their pretty flowers, all they have left is a pair of dirty hands. Yet Florida’s sunshine and nourishing rains fuel the desire to keep trying. So it’s tempting to keep coming up with project after project until running smack into the greatest garden pest: an empty bank account.
In effort to save time and money, we reached out to local gardening gurus for their advice on different of gardening projects. Each expert came back with ideas that can be implemented for less than $100. If you’ve been looking to spruce up your yard or porch, here are some quick and easy (and cheap) concepts.
Landscape accents
Want to draw attention to your front yard but don’t have the budget for marble statuary? Allison Palmer, co-owner of Palmer’s Garden & Goods (2611 Corrine Drive in Orlando; 407-896-5951; plamersgarden.com), recommends a pot. “Get something really decorative,” she said.
To be effective, Palmer suggests putting most of your $100 budget toward the pot itself. Around $60 is what she estimates would be a good price for something exciting. You’re going to want to stick to the 20-24-inch range, which means you’ll also need one to two bags of potting soil, starting around $7 apiece.
After the pot and the dirt, the rest can go toward starts for bright perennials and annuals, starting around $1.49 per plant. “Fill that pot with color, you’re going to be more apt to refill that and keep that pretty than you are if you put annuals in the ground,” said Palmer.
Palmer also recommends putting the pot right up front for the world to see. “Put it at the front of your landscape with some ground cover or mulch around it,” she said. “It’s a statement piece that sticks out among hedges or greenery and catches your eye.”
Edible gardening
For those on a budget, growing food has the bonus of cutting down on grocery bills. Tom MacCubbin, author and former host of the Better Lawns & Gardens radio show, has been teaching Floridians how to plant edible yards for decades.
If you don’t have the resources to dedicate a whole lawn to feeding yourself, MacCubbin recommends starting the same way Palmer does: with a pot. Only this time, don’t make it so eye-catching. “I would invest in some cheap pots and some bags of soil,” said MacCubbin.
One option is the half-barrel planters one can pick up for around $15. At 24 inches, these planters can produce a few decent salads. But MacCubbin recommends first trying to go even cheaper. “You may be able to get the pots for free,” he said, suggesting to ask at local nurseries for “some of the pots that trees or shrubs came in.”
As we’re approaching summer, MacCubbin said to avoid staples like tomatoes and peppers. “The heat’s going to get to them and you won’t get anything back,” he said. Instead, grab some okra, beans or squash.
MacCubbin also said not to waste money on buying started vegetable plants. “With seeds, you can do it cheaper, and you can save the extra seeds to keep using year after year,” he said.
Or buy a sweet potato and sprout it in a glass of water. “You’d take the little plants off when they’re about six inches tall,” said MacCubbin. “You snap them off and then you plant those. … They’re a pretty plant and they make for a good ground cover.”
Flower gardening
What if you just want some pretty blossoms growing in some corner of your yard? How would you best use your $100?
“I’d spend it on pollinator plants, those plants that attract pollinators including wasps, bees and butterflies,” said Robert Bowden, director at Leu Gardens in Orlando.
Tia Silvasy of the UF/IFAS Extension of Orange County agrees that a butterfly garden is a great possibility. “For $100 you could do a butterfly garden with 20 plants,” she wrote in an email.
Bowden notes that pollinators work with lots of plants, from shrubs to herbs and flowers, such as lantanas, salvias and pentas. “The good thing about pollinators is you can mix and match,” he said. “You can have shrubs and perennials and annuals too.”
Silvasy recommends focusing on Florida-friendly plants, which take less water and fewer soil inputs.
“Some bulletproof native landscape plants to include are firebush (a favorite of butterflies and hummingbirds), yaupon holly, cabbage palm, beach dune sunflower, and muhly grass,” she wrote.
Another cost-cutting measure: Learn to grow from cuttings. “You can buy one plant and make numerous cuttings, or expand the planting of your current plantings,” said Silvasy.
To learn more techniques for a Florida-friendly garden, check out the free landscaping guide found at ffl.ifas.ufl.edu.
Want to reach out? Email me at tfraser@orlandosentinel.com.
