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The Dirt On Budget Landscaping To save money on landscaping, think small, think bargain tables and think recycled. From "The Dirt On..." episode DTDO-109

When it comes to landscaping, inexpensive materials don't have to look cheap. Here are three strategies for landscaping your home without breaking the bank.

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	Plants from your nursery's "bargain table" at may be salvageable with just a little "TLC."

• Seek Out Bargain Basement Buys

  Don't be scared of sales. When plants go on the bargain rack, it doesn't necessarily mean they won't look good in the landscape, it just means they're not performing as well as those on display. If a plant has some brown spots in with the green, examine the green parts. If they look healthy, you can clip off the brown parts and the plant will be just fine. If it's all brown, leave it on the shelf. If a plant is wilted but still hasn't lost its color, water will perk it right up and it'll be fine. If it's wilted and has lost its color, leave it there because it's beyond repair.

  Another way to create your own bargain basement prices is to go dumpster diving. Often nurseries will pull plants off their display that are starting to look bad. They're not dead yet, just on their way out. Try to get your hands on them by getting to know your nursery professionals and asking for a private tour of the dumpster area.
  

  	Figure A
  	Figure B

  
  

• Buy Small

  Beyond the bargain table you can still save money by buying small (figures A and B). Don't shell out the dough for a bigger plant then you have to. Here are a few fast growers that will give you the results you're after in a short amount of time:

  • Fountain grasses. A four-inch plant will grow to a five-gallon size in months.

  • Lantana and 'Mexican Evening' primrose. These are both fast growing groundcovers so buy them as small as you can.

  • Xylosma. This is a really fast growing shrub, so don't buy any size over five-gallon.

  • Star jasmine, pink jasmine and trumpet vine. Don't buy anything bigger than one gallon because these vines trail out fast.

  • Purple leaf plum and pine trees. Five-gallon containers are as big as you should buy for these trees. You'll actually grow a healthier tree by planting it small because the more time a tree spends in a nursery pot with good soil, the harder time it will have adjusting to your soil.
    

    Figure C

    
    

• Look for Recycled Garden Goodies

  When you get home, the savings don't have to stop. Here are a few recycled alternatives to pricey garden additions.

  • Alternative to landscape fabric or weed barriers. Newspaper, cardboard and almost any recycled paper products will make great weed barriers. You just cover up your landscape fabric with mulch anyway so why waste the money? Plus, these materials will all decompose.

  • Money-saving mulch. Check with your city or county for wood chip giveaways. Most often it's cheaper for tree trimmers to give you the wood chips (figure C) than to pay to dump it all in the landfill. Your garden won't have the same look as it would with more expensive mulch but you have to ask yourself if your goal is to show off your plants or your mulch.

  • Homemade trellis. Every time you bring home a plant that's staked, hold on to those stakes! You can make a nice trellis out of these by simply wiring them together. If you get your hands on the nice bamboo stakes, it will really look deluxe.

  This whole recycling in the garden thing can definitely become addictive and fun. You'll start looking at everything in a whole new way, and once you start seeing how much money you're saving, you'll never stop.
  

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  ALSO IN THIS EPISODE:
  	The Dirt On Budget Landscaping
  	The Dirt On The Most Popular Power Tools
  	Expert Q&A: The Dirt On Growing Organic