Ready to build your dream garden? Then don’t let anything stand in your way, especially the potential cost. If you do a little digging, there are countless pro tips for gardening on a budget for both seasoned and budding gardeners. In fact, with the right dollar store gardening hacks, we guarantee you’ll have a priceless plot in no time.
Here are five of the best tips for gardening on a budget and the most cleverly repurposed $1 finds.
Buy Bargain Tools
Gardening tools can be expensive, but they don’t have to be. Finding the right equipment for the job at a bargain is easy. Dollar Store and Dollar Tree offer all the gardening tools you’ll need. From shears to gloves, all of your necessities can be found for $1 each. Pro tip: keep a gardening journal documenting your plants’ progress, which tools work the best, and which $1 finds last longer than others. When you return next season, you’ll know just what you need, what you don’t, and what to cheaply buy in bulk.
Use Craft Sticks As Plant Markers
The Dollar Store is brimming with potential, sometimes where you’d least expect. It’s all a matter of using your imagination. Or, in this case, relying on the gardening pros who swear by these hacks to guide you. For instance, craft sticks make the perfect plant marker, and a large package only costs a dollar. Use a permanent marker to identify your plants and then, when the season’s over, recycle those cheap sticks or throw them on your compost pile.
DIY Garden Cloches
Keeping critters away is essential to maintaining any garden. But it’s not always the cheapest thing to set up. Glass cloches and commercially made tunnels can cost a pretty penny, but a wire trash basket works just well. Some gardeners even say they prefer it. Best of all, you can find wire trash baskets for $1 at the Dollar Store. Another benefit that glass cloches lack is that the bins are stackable, and are, therefore, much easier to buy and store in bulk.
Repurpose Pool Noodles for Pot Drainage
Proper pot drainage is incredibly important. Sometimes you have to drill a hole in a pot, but no one really wants that. Other methods can wind up expensive or ineffective. But not this one. The next time you’re at the Dollar Store, buy a pool noodle and try this out. It’ll run you 60 cents to 2 dollars per pot. Cut up your pool noodle and place it in the bottom of the pot. Not only does it work well for drainage, but it won’t weigh it down. You’ll likely find yourself using much less potting soil as well.
Replace Repellents With Soap
If you have pest problems, you might want to consider buying a $1 bar of soap. Namely, Irish Spring. Soapy water does wonders for keeping most bugs away, and it’s more cost-efficient and less toxic than insect repellents. But it’s not just the bugs some gardeners are worried about. The good news is, deer and rabbits don’t enjoy the smell of Irish Spring. Sprinkle or scatter the cheap soap’s shavings around your garden and you’re good to go.
