We ahven't done any tightwad tops for a while... Feel free to post your favortie new tips here. Especially for spring...

I like to grow all of my own plants, so I save all of those little plastic packs that flowers come in to plant my own. I also use any plastic containers I get. This saves a lot of money instead of buying little pots. I buy seeds very cheaply, sometimes only 10 cents a pack. If I can get even a dozen plants, (and usually many more), this is less than a penny a plant!! So my tightwad tip is to try to grow your own plants, and use free containers and your own topsoil mix to start them...

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 26, 2002

Answers

I've started keeping a pair of clippers in my car--that way if I see something I like, I take a little snip and try to root at home.

I've started a "nursery" in a partly shaded side yard for small tree shoots, cuttings, etc... We'll see in a few years what holds up and will become nice landscaping trees.

I've been concentrating on compost to decrease my dependence on bought soil mixes, and fertilizers...This means being creative about dumping EVERYTHING there--chinese chestnuts, weeds from the garden, ALL paper shredded from garbage. We haul our own garbage so this makes a real difference! It's amazing how fast it decomposes and how much the worms love it. I never imagined before how much GOLD we were throwing away. I shred cardboard from packaging, paper plates, paper towels, etc...

I read a good organic gardening frugal tip from Germany--in a certain part they take rotting logs, put in garden in rows, cover with soil and plant on top. In time, the wood rots yielding wonderful organic soil.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002.

Ann, I love your idea of snipping a small cutting (with permission of course.) This sounds like a great way to get new plants for very little cost!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 27, 2002.