cheap garden plants money

Cheap Garden Plants That Look Great!

cheap garden plants rare corpse flowerSome gardens are full of unique and rare flora and fauna from around the world, but I’m a simple girl, and cheap garden plants are the way to go for me! I do have aspirations to get into the more difficult or rare plants at some point, but for the moment, frugal simplicity is top priority!

There are so many different directions you can go in and methods you can use in your own garden, and each garden is perfect for each gardener! In this article, I’ll be focusing on the low maintenance and cheap garden plants method. First, I think it’s important to know what criteria I have for a particular plant to be listed in this category.

What is a “cheap” plant?

My idea of a cheap plant is one that meets the following criteria:

cheap garden plants checklist

  • Grows easily in native/available soil
  • Establishes easily
  • Has low maintenance requirements
  • Propagates quickly/easily

The interesting this is, that even though a particular variety of plant might do exceptionally well in the soil, establishes easily and propagates similarly, they might have high maintenance requirements of either time, effort or money.

You might find a low maintenance plant that establishes easily and grows well only to find out propagation is a headache. So while you may be able to find a plethora of plants that meet almost all of these criteria, I will be focusing on plants that meet all of them.

Grows Easily in Native/Available Soil

cheap garden plants whyOne of the most common frustrations with novice gardeners is the concept of soil health. “Why can’t I just dig a hole, plop the plant in there, and water it?”

Well- you can- technically.

You will, however, be more likely to spend more time, money and effort in the long run by having to buy more and more plants, because without matching the plant to the soil, you’re unlikely to have that plant live very long.

cheap garden plants grows easilyThere are all sorts of different elements in soil that have a wide variety of effects on the grasses, flower, herbs, veggies, trees and shrubs growing in them.

Without having to go into a lot of the specifics, you want to find native/hardy varieties that can survive and even thrive in soil that might not be exactly what they’re looking for.

Establishes Easily

Plants can take years to truly establish a root system that will allow them to survive with only casual tending. It is during this period that taking care of and nurturing your garden is essential.

cheap garden plants familyAs a busy wife, mother and entrepreneur, I really like the ones that can get in and get settled quickly. This allows for more time of enjoyment and less overall tending.

Most often there is what’s called a tap root which is considered the “spinal column” of each plant.Be careful, because if you break it, the likelihood of the plant surviving is severely hampered, if not gone completely.

cheap garden plants rootsWhen a transplant or seedling is put into their main pot or spot in the ground, they often don’t seem to do much at first. This is not true. There is often a flurry of growth going on, but you just can’t see it

The roots start spreading their little tendrils out and help to both anchor the plant in place and get as many nutrients and water as possible from it’s immediate surroundings. Once the roots can support the physical plant itself and the energy/nutrient requirements for the little seedling, the growth above ground begins.

During the establishment phase, there will often be more growth below the ground than above. No need to worry though. With a nicely established root system, you can expect many more seasons of growth!

Has Low Maintenance Requirements

cheap garden plants working momFor those that have read any of my other posts, you’ll notice that maintenance requirements are kind of big deal around here.

I have a big and busy family, and however much I love getting out in my garden, it can quickly get “put on the back-burner” by other, more pressing, demands on my time.

cheap garden plants back ache

Due to this fact of life, I tend to make the maintenance requirements for a particular plant one of the most important qualities on my list of pros and cons. Maintenance is not just watering either. Maintenance has a dollar sign and an Epsom salt bath attached to it too.

Weeding, pruning, fertilizing, and pest control are all part and parcel to having a garden. As I have yet to find a way to age in reverse, all that hauling of garden supplies, bending over and working with my hands in the dirt can end up taking it’s price out of your body as well as your wallet.

cheap garden plants walletFertilizer is not cheap so consider composting. Check out our garden composting article here! If you don’t maintain or prevent your critter ecosystem you can end up with a pricey pest problem. If you don’t do your research on your zone or the particular plant, you can end up having to haul a plant indoors and back out again in the winter at the expense of your back- or a dead plant.

These are all things I consider when assigning a level of maintenance for any particular plant. Finding one that will not leave you with a broken back or wallet is essential.

Propagates Quickly/Easily

Question 1: What is propagation?

Question 2: Why do I care?

cheap garden plants questionsOK, so propagation is how a plant makes more plants. You would probably think, “seeds, duh.” But you would be wrong in some cases. There are some plants that make no seeds, or- if they do, it’s very rare.

cheap garden plants hibiscusFor example, hibiscus. You rarely see hibiscus seeds, because most often, hibiscus are sold by cuttings. (That’s not to say there are never hibiscus seeds, it’s just rare.)

A mature plant that has offshoots that can survive on their own when removed from the “mother”.

Propagating easily and quickly means that you will have the option to thin them out (ie. removing a percentage of the existing plants) and make more without doing harm to the existing mother pant. It’s important to do your research here as well. Just a few minutes can mean the difference between essentially doubling your plants, or having none.

Examples of Cheap Garden Plants

I live in zone 8, so please make sure to find out what zone you live in and find varieties or other types of cheap garden plants that will work in your zone! I will be putting together a list for a multitude of zones for even more details soon!

For my zone, my favorite cheap garden plants are:

Outdoor

Canna lilycheap garden plants canna lily

Wandering Jewcheap garden plants wandering jew

Irisescheap garden plants irises

Indoor

Snake Plantcheap garden plants snake plant

Pothoscheap garden plants pothos

Succulentscheap garden plants succulents

Every Garden is Unique

cheap garden plants greenhouseWith each different gardener, you have a different idea of the ideal garden. Some are smaller with very rare and particular flora from around the world.

Others are vast and sprawling with well cultivated native plants.

Either way, there will almost certainly be times when other things in life take priority. In those cases, I like knowing that at least a portion of my garden will still thrive.

cheap garden plants relax gardenIt’s in those times that things are crazy busy and (often) stressful, an escape to a place of simplicity and growth can be essential to our mental and spiritual health.

Keeping at least a few cheap garden plants is a great way to bring a little joy and life into our busy modern world.

 

Did you like this article? Please share it on your preferred social media platform and help us grow!

Do you want to send me any stories or pictures of the start (and current picture) of your garden?, Send me an email at randi@fairycirclegarden.com

If you have any questions, comments or tips to share with myself or the community, leave a comment below and I’ll get right back to you! You can also reach me on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Gratefully yours,

Randi

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10 thoughts on “Cheap Garden Plants That Look Great!

  1. I have planted many plants and trees on my land and they are all doing well. Two baby palm trees are not growing much, but now that I read your article, their roots are probably spreading and growing their network.
    Re-potting plants can be tricky sometimes, you don’t want to hurt them in the process. It has happened a few times and I lsot a few plants like that, but most of the time the transplanting goes smoothly.
    I have a wandering jew, but it’s not growing at all outdoors, perhaps it’s the soil?

    1. Any gardener who tells you they haven’t lost a plant to re-potting before is full of… compost. ?
      We’ve all had that happen, so don’t sweat it!
      Checking the soil for your wandering jew would be a great first step! Also check the variety of your wandering jew, because there are a few different types. Some wandering jew likes more water, some like better drainage. If you want to send me an email with pics and your zone, I can assist further.
      I’m sure your palms will continue to grow! Getting established is the hard part, but once established, they should start having regular growth.
      Happy Gardening!

  2. A plant that has low maintenance requirements is always one that I consider. I’ve been obsessed with cactuses ever since I was a kid, but I think it’s finally time for me to move on to different plants!

    Thanks for the lovely post, and know that I’ll be considering the irises for this year’s planting. It looks like the type of flower that will bring joy to this delightful place I call home.

    1. That’s GREAT! Irises were the first flowering plant that I was able to keep alive and have bloom year after year. Oddly enough, cacti hate me. I think I smother them with love… and too much water. lol But I won’t let that stop me from learning more about them until I’ve got a bunch living happily all around my house.
      I’m so glad you’re encouraged to branch out! Good luck and feel free to share your adventures in Irises with us!

  3. My mom loves gardening and she has got a ton of plants inside and outside the house. I’m sure she would enjoy reading your blog too as you always share a ton of awesome and extremely useful content. Even as a non-active gardener myself, I too always learn a few good things from reading your blogs. Learned a lot today about cheap garden plants that work in any garden and will share your blog with my mom. Keep up the good work!

    1. Thank you so much! I hope your mom enjoys it as well! I am so glad you find the information useful! I have learned so much from my online community that I feel so grateful to be a part of sharing that information and new revelations I come upon to others in the community! Thank you again!

  4. Hi there,
    Thanks so much for this post about easy to care for plants for a garden! I’ve wanted to get into gardening for a while now but know I don’t have a green thumb and am really worried I’ll just end up killing my plants and wasting time. Knowing which plants are more resilient at the start can definitely help avoid this issue, so thank you!

    1. I felt the exact same way for a long time. It actually took me working with the more difficult plants to realize which ones fit into this category! Don’t worry, you’ll have a green thumb in no time!

  5. Hi there,
    Amazing article, low maintenance garden sounds interesting! It is ideal for all those gardeners who love gardening or want to create a peaceful outer space for them.
    Well, we all need beautiful gardens but the effort required to maintain them is just too much because we are already occupied with busy job schedules and chores.

    But we can still have a lovely landscape by choosing plants that involve easy gardening and easy care can be taken or choose different kinds of plants and decorations to get the look we desire it just requires a little of planning at the start but eventually it will be easier to maintain.

    The cheap garden plants displayed in the article are so beautiful, to begin with, Thanks!

    Cheers!

    1. Thank you, Samantha! I agree that cheap garden plants are ideal for the “when I’ve got time” gardener!
      Generally speaking, the itch to get out in the garden is felt by most in the spring (of course) which can lead a lot of people to get grand aspirations of a perfect garden paradise, only to find out 4 months later, that those grand aspirations come with a grand amount of maintenance!
      You’re right! A little planning will make the garden so much easier to maintain.
      As someone with ADD myself, I like to term this gardening style as such: ADD Gardening. ?
      Even I fall prey to it, in particular during the cold winter months. All it takes, however, is a nice day of warmer weather with sunshine and a few chirping birds to get me back in the gardening groove again!
      I am so glad you enjoyed the article!
      Thank you!
      -Randi-

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