Save green on your garden greens

Kelly Hanson doesn't have a lot of garden space at her Minneapolis home, but this year she's looking to maximize the space and savings. "It's about growing your own food without spending a lot of money," she said, as well as adding color without spending too much green. Last week she checked out the Mother's Day specials at Aldi ($8 for a tricolor bowl of annuals and $5 for cyclamens or Gerbera daisies in pink pots). From Wave petunias to wood chips, here are garden variety ways to save.

One-stop shopping for low prices? There is no easy answer to that one. Casual gardeners can get low prices at Aldi on hanging baskets ($6), cypress mulch ($2.29 per 2-cubic-foot bag) and rose bushes ($4.49), but availability varies wildly from store to store. Costco and Sam's Club members can get good deals on annuals and some perennials, but again, it's all about timing. Wal-Mart has inexpensive daily prices and a fairly generous return policy during the same growing season.

Free mulch. Mulch is fairly inexpensive and, like a fresh coat of paint, it can give the whole space a fresh, clean look for little cash, or no cash.

Check the sidebar on where to call in the metro area for free mulch, wood chips or compost. (It's the same mulch that the cities use on their trees, shrubs and gardens.) If you want cypress mulch, which is popular for its longevity, Aldi recently sold it for $2.29 per 2-cubic-foot bag, although cypress is controversial because it's being blamed for damaging Florida ecosystems. Menards has had a similar low price during sales.

Divide your own plants instead of buying new. Just as hoarders are told to "shop" their own closets, basements and attics for forgotten items, many flowers can be divided to create new ones. Now's a good time to divide perennials, including hosta, stonecrop sedums, and ornamental grasses.
Start from seed. Bachelor's buttons, cosmos, four o'clocks, sunflowers, zinnias, beans, carrots, lettuce, peas and radishes can easily be started from seed.

Plant sales and swaps. Check the calendar in Wednesday's Home & Garden section for plant sales and swaps. In general, the small church- or school-sponsored plant sales often have lower prices (but less selection) than the large, well-organized sales. Swapping plants can cost you nothing if you have plants you want to share. You'll probably find common but reliably hardy plants at swaps. Be wary of aggressive spreaders such as snow-on-the-mountain, evening primrose or loosestrife. Swap rules can vary, but some allow you to pay a nominal fee if you don't bring plants to trade.

Cheap annuals. Watch the paper for weekly specials at hardware stores such as Fleet Farm, Home Depot, Lowe's and Menards as well as nurseries near your home. Menards, for example, had 10-inch hanging baskets for $6. Home Depot had a four-pack of annuals for $1.49. Check the quality of the plants purchased from hardware stores or other retailers that don't specialize in live plants. They are best purchased "off the truck" when they're still fresh. On the other hand, offer less for plants that are clearly distressed.

Biggest bang for the buck. Buy spreaders that can fill a lot of space such as Wave petunias, impatiens, daylilies and phlox.

Garden supply sale. I wish there were as many lawn and garden sample sales as there are for clothing, but this year I know of only one. Sales reps Heather and Jan will discount everything 50 to 70 percent during their sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 30. Save on limited quantities of new arbors, trellises, hanging moss baskets, metal planters, topiary planters, glazed pottery, cast stone statuary, obelisks and selected herbs and perennials.