Do you spend more on your gardens than you profit?

When I lived in the country and we put a garden every year, we certainly saved enough on vegetables to warrant planting. But we also saved things such as pumpkin seeds, eyes from potatoes, and even used dried beans to grow pinto beans and great northerns. (it's much cheaper than puchasing the seeds, and you get the same results.

I don't have an official garden but I grow herbs in pots that I have indoors and take outside on sunny days. It doesn't cost me all that much. I reuse the same pots each time. I've built up quite a collection; most from the second hand store and garage sales. I've started with both seeds, which I get a couple packs for a dollar, and little baby plants from my local grocery store for only a couple dollars. But to answer the question you asked in the title; although I don't spend much, I do spend more than I profit money-wise but it's all worth it mentally. My "garden" work is a great stress reliever and there is the health benefits of fresh herbs.

Using mulch helps to maintain your garden. Making your own compost/mulch is the cheapest way to go. We don't spend a lot of money to maintain our perennial beds. Adding the compost to the beds feeds the plants.

If you buy plants already started, look for the ones that have more than one plant in the pot, it doubles what you get. Use soaker hoses or perforated jugs to water, it is more efficient than sprinklers. Use compost that you make to nourish the soil. Put a spoonful of epsom salts in with each tomato.

It really depends. If you start from seeds, it's cheaper. If you buy the plant, it's usually already money thrown out the window. Many people buy fertilizer. You can make your own. For me, water and seeds is really the only investment.

People spend too much because they buy so much stuff. If you pretend you live back in the day, and start your own seeds and make your own dirt, it doesn't cost much at all. Plus it's fun and the rewards go beyond monetary rewards.

Putting it into another context you can profit out of gardening from being out in the air, in the warmth and from getting exercise from toiling in your garden, relaxing in your garden once it has been looked after. Mum grows a lot of vegetables which we eat and put into salads and for cooking. I love the taste of organic vegetables, we have a few fruit trees too which bear apples and pears.

Tips huh? Well I lay plastic across areas that will be a future garden for one full year. This kills the grass and most weeds making it easier to dig up. I also make my own compost as opposed to buying fertilizer etc. I plant seeds insteads of full grown plants bought at nurseries etc. Those are my tips and practices. I spend very little each year on all that I plant and harvest etc. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB!!~

I dunno that it's a matter of profit. It's a matter of skill, learning, and watching your plants grow. Not spending too much means then buying seeds and growing your own plants, making your own compost, trading plants with friends and neighbors. And if you educate your self in perennial plants that are good in your area they will grow and you can divide them into new plants and they come back year after year. Though the inital investment can be steep depending on what varieties you are planting and how big of an area you are planting.

Hi there..I think that if we truely enjoy gardening, then there is no such thing as spending more that we profit from. Just the pleasure alone that one can get from gardening, is worth whatever amount of money we want to spend on it. Its the spending of money and improving the garden that makes us happy with the end result. Along with the fresh air and exercise, if we are happy too, then its worth any amount and the profits although maybe not monetary, will surely outweigh the cost. There are lots of things to cut down on cost though it it is a concern. Smaller gardens such as container gardening, would use less fertilizer, less water, less care generally. Planting seeds are cheaper than transplants but more work. SOme people buy dirt to plant in if their soil isnt the greatest. Some veggies will grow fine, such as potatoes, even planted in seaweed. I have done this and it works well. Seaweed is free if you are in an area where its accessible. Make your own compost, its cheaper than buying it. We actually have a farm near where i live that gives some away every year for free. Perhaps visiting or asking a farm may be beneficial. Use barrels to catch rain water for watering the gardens. This saves on water usage and water bills if you have to pay for water in your area.