Gardening does not have to cost you an arm and a leg-or your first-born-if you plan and have patience.
In the spring, have a garden party. Have guests bring a plant from their gardens. In return, have an area in your bed from which a plant can be dug for them to take home. Serve some cold lemonade. This event is sure to be a hit.
Start your plants from seeds. A packet of seeds may yield ten plants for one to two dollars versus buying one plant for one to five dollars. Friends (and most strangers) gladly share seeds, cuttings, and plants.
An old saying states, "You can buy a $.50 plant and put it in a $5.00 hole, but you shouldn't take a $5.00 plant and put it in a $.50 hole." So prepare your soil carefully by adding compost and by removing weeds, grass, and rocks. Have a soil test to determine whether your soil is low in nutrients, then adjust it accordingly with the needed amendments.
Judy Hennessy, Smith County Master Gardener
Texas Cooperative Extension
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