How to Save Money Planting Your Garden

Flowers are beautiful and growing and tending to them in a garden can be relaxing, and add great value to your home and life. But the cost of creating a garden, or filling an existing one with new plants or colors can be prohibitive, especially if your plan includes some of the more exotic plant species. A single orchid can cost upwards of $50, and depending on the size of your garden and the plants you choose to fill it up with, even less expensive choices can add up.

Annuals die every year, and need to be replaced, weather or pests, digging dogs, or even a wayward weed whacker can have you heading to the garden shop.

Plant trading is a great way to address all these issues. You can acquire new plants, or new colors of existing plants, with no cost if you trade in your neighborhood or close by, or limit your costs to shipping if you’re trading outside your local area.

In addition to getting new plants and colors, trading also allows you to get rid of unwanted plants, or cut down on those that may be taking over your space. If you really know your plants and propagation techniques, you might even be able to gather plants growing in the wild to trade. A trade also allows you try something new, to see whether it will grow in your space, or give you the look you were hoping for, without spending a lot of money on speculation. You get what you want, and other people get what they want. It's a win-win situation.

Trading is as simple as it sounds: you give a plant or clipping in exchange for a plant or clipping. You can trade across the country, using a website like Garden Web, or any of the other sites you'll find with a search, or you can host or attend a live trade in your area.

The NextDoor app is a great way to connect with your neighbors, and allows you to post photos, which could make the process even easier.

There are only a few things you need to know to participate: colors you have and those you want, the name of the plant you have, the name of the plant you want these two are necessary for a shipping trade, maybe not so much for a local, propagation method, and how to ship it if that’s the route you’re taking.

Garden web is a total garden resource: it features advice, a place to post questions, photos, exchanges of things other than plants or seeds, and forums on just about every topic. Here you can learn how to take a cutting and propagate your plant, or the best way to ship it. The plant exchange itself is broken down by geographic area, plant type, and exchange type, so there should be something to fit your needs.

If you'd rather not swap without seeing either the plant or the person, a live trade could work for you. The concept is the same: you offer plants or clippings, as do the others attending. There are no hard and fast rules, only those you and the people you are dealing with establish. As long as you're both agreeable to the terms of the trade, then all is well.

You can set up a list of plants attendees have to trade and want to acquire, or it can be what shows up. Your trade can be invitation only, or you can advertise and hold it open to anyone.

I recently posted to NextDoor that I have plenty of Christmas cactus and iris plants in one color and would like to trade for a plant of any different color. The cacti are already in pots, the iris can be easily dug up and replanted by their new owner.

As I said above, for a live trade, you create the rules. The purpose is to get new plants, and share ones you already have. As long as the method you've created works, you're fine. Online, of course, you need to abide by the rules of whatever site you're working from.

And because plants are living things that grow and multiply, and our gardens and our interests are constantly changing, trading doesn't have to be a one-time thing. In fact, it probably won't be. As you find new favorites or create new space, you could be in the market to trade again. And there are plenty of others out there to trade with.