How much have you spent on the garden so far this year?

Not everyone has space, or time, to raise plants from seed. People without greenhouses have only so many windowsills, and may or may not have an understanding partner, no cats to knock them over, windows that face the right direction but don't bake the plants, etc etc etc

And not everyone wants to spend the time raising plants from seed - they may have other hobbies, or commitments, too - or they may have tried and failed and decided its not for them. There must be loads more reasons too ...

I grow close to a thousand plants a year from seed ... but it takes a considerable commitment to be around to water and nurture them. Its not just an issue of impatience.

 

The majority of my costs went in to the veg patch and pots (seeds & compost); any plants I bought were small and bargains.

I love growing stuff from seed; especially unusual trees and shrubs and perennials, I have a couple of shrubs that are 7 years old now from seed and I'm still waiting patiently for them to flower.

 

lad : i spend so much on my garden simply because i can(and as others have pointed out its not all about plants ) my garden is my life (when im not doing someone elses garden) my partner and i run several buisness`s and have 3 children we havent holidayed in 23 years dont have meals out (we dont have time) also i dont drink or smoke and my partner doesnt drink so my garden is my luxury,how about you lad think about how much you spend on the luxurys i dont indulge in !!!!????

 

I'm not surprised, I can't think of anything worse than a Banjo player covered in Cuprinol

 

Despite having 6 compost bins, the contents of which I shifted and dug in, my rather poor soil (or rather the plants in it) demand food, so there was slow release fertiliser. 8 bags of compost for seeds, cuttings, strawberry runners, pricking out, potting on, containers, baskets, top dressing etc. I spent £70 worth of garden vouchers I was given, some of which went to replace mature plants/climbers killed by having been frozen solid for almost 3 months, the rest went on 2 herb planters I didn't need but they're 'pretty' and not something I would otherwise have bought, then I cheated and bought some herbs to go in them. I've bought one packet of tomato seed, one of salad leaves, one of radish.

If I don't include the vouchers (and I don't!!!), I reckon about £90 so far. I shall need more compost and will buy a couple of trays of bedding plants just to fill in gaps.

I never aim to spend more than £150 in any one year - but then my aim was never very good

 

Perhaps you should change you aim to be "I never aim to spend less than £150 in any one year" and then you could pat yourself on the back at the end of each year? :D

 

Wow Shiney- there so much in that post I want to pick up on, but I dont want to take the thread off on a tangent. I'll take it to your open day thread.

 

I must of spent at least £250 quid on my garden this year ( cloche's, cloche covers, pots, compost, mini greenhose, feed, seeds, pots, At least next year it will be a lot cheaper than this one,

TG.

 

lol, what did you put in there, a marble fountain?

 

lol, what did you put in there, a marble fountain? lol no not yet and not likely to

 

I have spent way more than I can afford!!

But I am building my garden from three patches of bare soil which were here when we moved in (2009) so it's my third year in the garden this year.

We have developed it massively on a shoestring really. When I've tidied up the rubble from having the new fence put in I'll try and find an old pic, and show how far we've come.

 

So far £198.25 give or take the odd penny. Most of it on the patio.

Cotswold stone chippings ~ £86.00 ( for the edges )
Potting compost ~ £12.00
David Austin rose 'Grace' ~ £13.00 ( for the scent )
Misc. plants for the patio ~ £28.00 ( salvia, pericallis, allysium, and four courgette plants )
Coriander seeds ~ £1.25 ( for our taste buds )
Vitax SBK weedkiller ~ £25.00 ( for the GE and bramble shoots near the fence )
Gardman Compact Walk in Greenhouse ~ £33.00 ( after being inspired by Wardstone to look into buying one of these. )

Considering I've spent £1295 on my car since March and only driven it about 50 miles during that time... I reckon I'm getting pretty good value for money from the horticultural side of my spending.

 

I don't like to think about it :lol:

Probably around £150 - £200 so far this year (several roses, 6 x 8ft posts and misc. other plants). The bad news is I need another 8 clematis and 19 roses to finish my 'little project'