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​Tip Store: Gardening: General

Another Stocktake to Save Money

​I regularly do a pantry stocktake; however, while 'playing' in the shed recently, I discovered another stocktake that will also save money. I was getting some plant food from the shed, and noticed how many containers of seaweed solution, fertilizer and general plant products I had, including double ups, so promptly did a stocktake of what I had on hand. Next time I go to the hardware store, I'll know what I have and what I am running low on, rather than buying something 'just in case.'
Contributed by Paula Hill

A Low Maintenance Garden

​Rather than seeing lockdowns as wasted time I used lockdowns five and six to create a low maintenance garden. Instead of lawn, the front and backyard is covered in wood chip mulch and the nature strip is lily dale toppings. The front has fruit trees, the entire backyard is for growing vegetables. The mulch keeps plants warmer in winter, cooler in summer, reduces evaporation, keeps weeds out and as it breaks down provides nutrients for the plants. I save time and money. No gardening equipment like mowers needed, no mowing and weeding time is reduced.
Contributed by Ann Green

​Willing Helpers

My husband and I have been planning and building our home for 4 years. With poor health, injuries, 4 young children, 25 acres and Centrelink-only income, our progress was very slow. This all changed when we were told about the WWOOF Australia program, (Willing Workers on Organic Farms). In exchange for meals and accommodation, backpackers from around the world are helping us build our family home. As well as their invaluable help with building, gardening, day-to-day assistance on our property, our whole family has benefited from such a wonderful cultural exchange. Hosts can choose how long they wish for workers to stay - from a few days to 3 months. The registration process is quick and easy for hosts with only a $60 fee to pay. Being proud Cheapskaters helped us budget for feeding an extra mouth or two. It truly was a small price to pay when we consider just how much progress we made. Take a look at the WWOOF website - it will most likely answer any questions.(wwoof.com.au). And by the way, you do not need to operate an organic farm to be able to take advantage of this program.
​Contributed by Leanne Jones, 11th October 2013

​Students Make Great Home Helpers

First of all, congratulations. A great way of saving money is to find out if there is a TAFE in your local area that offers gardening/horticulture and then advertise for someone there who could help you out at a reasonable price. Even a high school student may be of use to get rid of the weeds. Another option could be a retired person who loves gardening. Good luck.
​Contributed by Catherine Dobson, 11th October 2013

​Bartering for Gardening

Do you have a special skill, like sewing, knitting, etc. or perhaps your new husband is good at something that you could barter with someone else who could garden for your services. Perhaps the 'Beer Economy' is alive and well in your area. "Will mow lawn for beer!" Maybe an ad in the local free paper would gain some interest. Who knows, you might end up with a whole lot of people willing to trade for trade work.
​Contributed by Jill Lancett, 10th October 2013

​Finding Help in the Garden

I approached my local TAFE college which runs a horticulture course, and asked if any students would be prepared to help me. I had 3 responses. Yes, I pay them, but it is much less than a commercial gardener charges. And my daughter-in-law says my yard is "Amazing!"
​Contributed by Diana Smith, 10th October 2013

Church Groups Volunteer to Help

Contact a church near to you. They often have people who will come out and help get gardens back on track and will do it for nothing except a cold drink and sandwiches. The youth in our church do it and love going out and helping in the community.
​ Contributed by Deeca Nicholls, 10th October 2013

​Bartering Your Skills

You could put your gardener wanted ad in a local community notice board or shop window. List your skills e.g. cooking a meal, baking, sewing crafts, mending clothes for a single person or a busy mum, baby sitting or even teaching or sharing your upcoming produce bounty!
​ Contributed by Faye Vautier, 10th October 2013

​Garden Help!

Hi Hazel I feel for you seeing your lovely garden being overtaken with weeds. I suggest you have a 'garden party'. You supply the date scones and cuppa and ask your dear friends to each spend an hour pulling weeds. Result nice tidy garden, nice time of fellowship....all winners!
​ Contributed by Alison Carkeek, 10th October 2013

​Finding a Ministry to Suit Your Needs

May I suggest calling a local church that may have a ministry that handles gardening needs in the community or a homeschooling network. Ask if they know of a homeschool kid/s, family that want to help out. If you live in the areas of a neighbourhood house, worth chatting with them about what is around for you to tap into.
​ Contributed by Nina Francis, 10th October 2013

​You Can Do Anything For, and Lots In, Twenty Minutes

Hazel, I'm so happy for you - to have found someone so perfect for you - I guess after 31 years of running solo you had many changes to make. My suggestion to you is to have a look at the Fly Lady site - the reason I recommend this place is that is has made such a difference in my allocation of time to duties - I guess you imagine that 20 minutes at doing anything does not produce much but if you actually put your egg timer on for 20 minutes and decided to dedicate that time to pulling weeds, pruning, tidying outside, you will be astounded at what you can achieve. For me frankly, 20 minutes at one task is about enough. I use this method all the time - if my list is long, I may spend 20 minutes sorting the kitchen when the timer goes off, I move to the next task (with timer) until it's time for me to move again. AND if your beloved is not a gardener, perhaps he would like to exchange a task with you - perhaps he could iron (my husband is an ironer) or he could prepare meals or vacuum - I'm happy for you and wish you a super future
​ Contributed by Lorraine Williams, 10th October 2013

​Check Your Local High School & Shops for Help

Can you ask to put up an advert at your local high school or shopping center? there may be some school kids that want a bit of extra cash but cant commit to a 'real' job due to study times. there also may be someone who is a keen gardener who needs the extra cash... then you can negotiate a price that suits you and have them do part of the work.
​ Contributed by Sarah Rath, 10th October 2013

​Get Gardening Help

Perhaps a place to start would be to contact the local council to ask about gardening support through their Home and Community subsidised services programme. Sometimes there are ads for gardening services on Gumtree at reasonable prices. Some of the religious or church organisations also run community subsidised support programmes depending on your location, (e.g. Baptist, Uniting) and can be looked up on the Internet.
​Contributed by Caroline Taylor, 10th October 2013

​Easy Gardening

If you don't have time to weed at least make time to go around with clippers and a bag and cut off all the seed heads. Won't help this season but will prevent a load more next time round. If you do weed, try and mulch immediately.
​Contributed by Meryll Williams, 10th October 2013

​Student Help With Gardening

My mother is 87 years old and loves her garden but is unable to manage it now so I enlisted help from a young man doing a landscaping course and pay him to help out. So contact your local Tertiary school for assistance.
​ Contributed by Darryllyn McRae, 10th October 2013

​Getting a Partner to Help in the Garden

If he isn't a gardener because he doesn't know how you could make some time to do it together so he learns. If he prefers the indoors make a time to garden while he is watching his TV show or out with friends. Look at making wicking beds. They are cheap made from recycled items and save you time watering since they water themselves from the bottom. If you still need help you could look/post on Gumtree or ask neighbours for teenagers looking for a little extra pocket money. Good luck with it and enjoy your new hubby and garden.
​ Contributed by Alison McInnes, 10th October 2013

​Refresh a Garden

To refresh your garden, why not put pebbles down between plants, this will stop the weeds. There are different colour pebbles and the brown/fawn shades look nice with bigger stones than just gravel. I would then gradually transfer things you really want to keep into big pots and place them in the garden too. It is a long term job but well worth it in the end, and the sort of thing you can do a little at a time when finances allow.
​ Contribute by Margaret Trounce, 10th October 2013

​Low Maintenance Gardening Plan

1. Ask your local Girl Guides and Boy Scouts (they do still exist!) if there are handy gardeners looking for pocket money for the Christmas holidays. School newsletters are another good source of stay at home mums and also kids looking for a bit of cash. Decide what you're prepared to pay and be reasonable with the age of the helpers. \
2. Collect cardboard boxes from your local shops (ask them, they'll let you know what day stock comes in). Lay the cardboard over the weeds, no need to pull them as they will compost into the soil, overlap the cardboard and then spread the cheapest straw you can find over the top. This will enrich your soil and prevent more weeds for at least a year.
​ 3. Decide which part of the garden you can manage and focus on the pretty and fiddly plants there. The rest can be heavily planted with home grown seedlings to crowd out the weeds and mulched with boxes as above.
Contributed by Danette Peachey, 10th October 2013

​Simple Summer Shade

Approximate $ Savings: $40 and upwards

With the summer weather finally here and the kids on holidays, I needed some shade for my back yard. Not having much money meant no umbrellas, sun shades or gazebos. Instead, I went to the local op shop and bought a double bed doona cover. I unpicked the sides then spread it over the top of my clothes lines with pegs to hold it down - viola - instant shade for $4.00! Added bonus - I can still hang out my clothes and know they won't fade in the bright sunlight.
​Contributed by Liz Wylie, 5th January 2012

​Make a Centrepiece Table Light

To make an outside table light centrepiece, take a nice pot and cover the hole in the bottom and fill with sand or pebbles and place a solar light in the middle. You could even scatter these around your patio or outdoor area. Another trick is to use dirt and pop plants around the outside - Mondo grass looks nice. Saves on electricity for outdoor entertaining and is a fantastic talking point.
​Contributed by Casey Morrison, 1st August 2010

​Marking Garden Tools

Approximate $ Savings: The cost of replacing stolen tools

​ I used to laugh at my Mum for marking all her garden tools but now I see the value of doing so. Dipping the handles in a bright coloured paint or painting it on not only helps identify your tools should they be stolen, but also prevents them from being lost in the first place in amongst the greenery of a garden. I have fluoro hot pink as my colour of choice as I know it is not only an unpopular colour but is hi viz.
Contributed by Margaret Van Emmerik, 25th July 2010

​Gorgeous Garden Lights

Instead of spending heaps of money on fancy tea light holders and tiki torches with oils (although the citronella ones are great!) for prettying up your yard when you are having a party/bbq I save jars and turn these into hurricane lamps or tea light holders and scatter them around my garden when I am having a party or BBQ. You can buy tea lights in big bags really cheap and being in the jars stops the wind (or light breezes!) blowing out the flame. Of course use the citronella type if you want to repel the mosquitoes. To make them even prettier you can buy a can of frosting spray paint from Bunnings or a hardware and stencil designs on - you could even make a theme (Christmas, birthdays etc). If you want to hang lights in your trees save cans (baked beans etc), peel off the labels and drill some holes into the walls of the can and make patterns and add some wire so you can suspend them from branches. Pop in your tea lights and away you go. They look fantastic and I've had so many comments about how tropical and relaxing they feel being in the garden.
​Contributed by Danielle, Ellersllie, 1st May 2009

​Blindingly Nifty Garden Screen

Approximate $ Savings: $100+

After replacing our loungeroom blinds, I discovered a great way to use our old discarded bamboo-style roll-up window blinds. As they come with hooks on the top, I thought it would be a good idea to mount them onto the ugly fence behind the veggie garden. If you put some loops on the bottom end and then put some garden stakes on the edge of the veggie garden, you can then roll the blinds out and attach them to the stakes, creating ready-made awnings for summer or frost-protectors for winter to protect the vegies from the weather. When they aren't needed, you simply leave them hooked onto the fence as an attractive screen.
​Contributed by Angela, Flynn, 18th June 2009

​Cheap Garden Gloves

Aldi's rubber gloves at 99 cents make the best garden gloves I have ever found. They last for a very long time and I usually put lots of hand cream on my hands before putting the gloves on, so they not only protect your hands but makes them nice and soft after using the gloves.
​Contributed by Hazel, Banksia Beach, 14th March 2009

​Using Up Everything - Recycle Potting Mix Bags

Don't throw out your old potting mix bags. Cut to size, they make good liners for terracotta pots and planters, and if you cut a bag into strips, they make fantastic plant ties. The other thing I like to do with them is to make them into mini composting units. Just poke some holes in the bottom and sides and fill with your garden waste to begin breaking down. In fact, with a bit of imagination you could turn them into just about anything.
​Contributed by Lyndall, Marlborough, 30th January 2009

​Gardener’s Soap

​Put your scraps of soap (I do make my own so I do have scraps) in a plastic container with a large mouth. Next time you have pure coffee put the cooked grounds of the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee into the container and then add water. Keep adding soap until it is about half full and then blend the heck out of it. You should get something like a cream soap. If not just keep adding bits of soap. This is brilliant for cleaning smelly hands, gardeners hands and workers hands. All made from leftovers. Contributed by Merinda, Frenchs Forest, 18th June 2007

​Garden Paths

Weeds-Kerosene sprinkled on paths saves hours of tedious hand weeding.
​Contributed by Colleen, Neville, 3rd January, 2007

​Square Foot Gardening

We have just been introduced to the concept of square foot gardening; due to deteriorating health my love of gardening took a nosedive, until a friend introduced us to this way of gardening. Their website is www.squarefootgardening.com. Now I am harvesting beautiful vegetables and herbs and I am loving every minute of it.
​Contributed by Sally-Anne, Coomba Park, 7th December 2006

​Lavender Sachets

​Plant lavender in pots and collect the flowers to use in sachets. Keep them in your drawers and linen cupboards, in boxes of stored clothing, blankets etc to keep them smelling sweet and fresh. Lavender sachets are expensive to buy, but you can have fresh ones every year if you grow your own.

​Be Creative

​Be creative when it comes to containers. Some possibilities: -Egg cartons; use to start plants. Old shoes and gumboots; cute for ornamentals. Plastic milk and ice cream containers; cut to size and add drainage holes, or use to transport soil, rocks, or water. Cut tiny holes and place by plants for drip irrigation. Cracked mugs and bowls; use on the bottom of containers for good drainage. Cardboard boxes; use on a temporary basis for short-lived plants. Old tires; stacked them up, and filled with straw to grow potatoes.

​Hose Hanger

​Use an old wheel rim attached to a post to hang your garden hose. It will stay neat and will last much longer if it is wound carefully after each use.

​Kneelers

Make economical and very comfortable kneelers for gardening by putting and old pillow inside a plastic grocery bag and tying a knot in the handles. It will be water- and dirt-proof and protect your knees when you are weeding etc.
​Contributed by Jean, Brisbane