"www.gardeners-advice.com" wrote in message
oups.com...
just wondered how much over the years people have spent on there
gardens???

Years back, I spent a minimal amount with some fruit trees, clump of
birches, roses and plants in trays and fertilizers, peat, etc. Then I
went for years and didn't do anything. Finally the cherry trees died
after years of little or not maintenance and tons of cherries. This
year has been bad trying to get the yard looking nice again. Spent $968
just for two arbor kits, $50 from arborday.org, $50 on some plants to
set out, and bought several bags of mulch, potting soil, etc., few
packets of seeds. Also paid a girl to clean out behind my garage and
plant some hostas and spread mulch, just getting started there. That is
a lot for me.

::sigh::

This year?

Hundreds. As in, four or five, and I've lost track. I've stopped
counting.
Why? Well, I live in Phx, Az, and the weather is seriously HOT. So I
buy 8x8 burlap sheets and tie them up for shade @ 5$ apiece. Also, I
have bought seed, two watering cans, sisal, scissors, pots, soaker
hoses, hose attachments, pickaxe, hoe, compost bins...blah blah blah.
Really, I don't save any money at all - but that's partly because this
is a new garden. A lot of the tools and supplies I had to buy this year
will be around nexy year, and I'll have seeds and cuttings of my own.

It's well worth it, though - my garden brings me health, education,
exercise, joy and satisfaction. What else could you ask for?

On 5/18/06 3:30 PM, in article ,
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:

"www.gardeners-advice.com" wrote in message
oups.com...
just wondered how much over the years people have spent on there
gardens???


That's best not discussed.


Definitely - especially with non-gardening spouse!

Cheryl

"Myrl Jeffcoat" wrote in message
oups.com...
I swim 50 laps about 5 times a week

Lucky you. I get a rash within 30 minutes of being in an indoor pool. The
rash lasts for 2 weeks, and itches intensely.

www.gardeners-advice.com wrote:
just wondered how much over the years people have spent on there
gardens???

More than my wife thinks.

Probably ~$1k or so to get all the material and less than $100/yr to
maintain (additives, replacements, annuals)

Merle O'Broham wrote:

www.gardeners-advice.com wrote:

just wondered how much over the years people have spent on there
gardens???


More than my wife thinks.

Probably ~$1k or so to get all the material and less than $100/yr to
maintain (additives, replacements, annuals)


Sorry for the piggyback. I don't see the OP. This is a somewhat cheap
year for me as far as gardening. I bought enough wood to make four
4'x'4 raised beds. DH thought the garden didn't need expanding from the
5 larger raised beds but I did. The wood was about $60. I've gone
through at least three bags of peat moss, four bags of manure and four
bags of potting soil so that's likely about another $60. This year I'm
using fertilizer so the starting cost was about $20. I'm battling wild
rabbits so bone meal, mothballs, CritterRidder and temporary fencing.
Then there's the bird seed for three feeders, a new watering wand
because the other one split when it froze, batteries for the motion
sprayer, a couple of hanging baskets, at least two flats of flowers so
far, and tons of seeds. I'm redoing the two front flower beds but
haven't bought any vegetation for them yet and the new raised beds need
to be filled then planted. I've only hit the local garden supply not
the larger ones yet but I will this weekend. I think I'm just going to
stop thinking about the money spent. Really, I think I could maintain
for less than $100 if my seeds all co-operated.

Garden Gnome

--

Garden Gnome
http://ca.360.yahoo.com/sfg.oamc
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/garden_wanderings
http://gardengnomewanderings.blogspot.com/

"tenacity" wrote in message
oups.com...
::sigh::

This year?

Hundreds. As in, four or five, and I've lost track. I've stopped
counting.
Why? Well, I live in Phx, Az, and the weather is seriously HOT. So I
buy 8x8 burlap sheets and tie them up for shade @ 5$ apiece. Also, I
have bought seed, two watering cans, sisal, scissors, pots, soaker
hoses, hose attachments, pickaxe, hoe, compost bins...blah blah blah.
Really, I don't save any money at all - but that's partly because this
is a new garden. A lot of the tools and supplies I had to buy this
year
will be around nexy year, and I'll have seeds and cuttings of my own.

It's well worth it, though - my garden brings me health, education,
exercise, joy and satisfaction. What else could you ask for?

That's the whole point. It makes you feel better and it is so nice to
watch things grow; it's good for you in so many ways. Iowa has it's
problems, too, but you do what you have to do where you are.

I have another expensive hobby (you can do both on a severe budget if
you have to), photography, but they aren't necessarily mutually
exclusive. You just have to prioritize, try to be patient and not do it
all at once. Sometimes you have to do a lot at once. You can grow
things in AZ that will not flourish here unless you have a hothouse and
vice versa. You probably have to use a lot more water though, but I am
using plenty with new planting even though we've had lot of rain the
past few weeks.

If only I could have some bougainvillea on my new arbors. It wouldn't
look natural here though. Some of it I've seen from pictures seems to
do well low and bushy, hugging the ground. Sigh. I'll be lucky to find
the rose varieties I want and have them grow. I'll be lucky to get the
arbors assembled, painted and installed properly. I will need help.
You can probably do most everything yourself, so count your blessings on
that.

BTW, that doesn't sound like an exorbitant amount you have spent there.
Everything is relative. Funny how it tends to snowball on you. You
think you have plenty, then find yourself making more trips for potting
soil, mulch, and all sorts of odds and ends you didn't plan ahead for
because you didn't know you were going to need/want them.

Good luck with your strategy there. I need burlap for bare spots on the
terrace because grass seed won't take without something to hold it until
it gets established. Not going to bother with that on top of everything
else this year.

When fully developed, a garden is cheap to maintain. Unavoidable yearly
expenses:

- 2 bags of seeding mix, about $13.
- impatiens, 2 flats, about $6.
- 1 ton leaves, free
- 3 tons wood chips, free
- 0.5 tons manure, free
- 100 lbs wood ash, free
- 1 bag fertilizer, about $10.
- about 10 seed packets that run out (this year I had to buy new string
beans, kale, daisies, beet, oregano) $15. By now I only buy big
packets, that last multiple years in the freezer, and save a number of
seeds
- water, about $140.

I get about 1000 lbs of vegetables this way, limitless amounts of
herbs, and the flowerbeds are full.

$250.00 for a garden tiller 30 years ago; $20.00 worth of misc.
yard/garden seeds annually for a 15' x 30' garden, plus 3 trellises of
green/wax pole beans Fresh veggies all summer/fall; wife cans 150 pints.
Can't count the labor; I enjoy it. harley

James wrote:

My veggie garden comes to about $50 per pound. ;-)

============

That seems fairly average. We have a northern climate, a
short growing season, and poor soil. Adding up the costs
of materials over the years plus labor costs calculated at a
very modest $8 per hour, I figure that a home grown tomato
costs about $25 and a home grown fig about $100. Probably
much more.