If you were given $1,000. to spend on your garden, how would you spend it:

Truckloads of topsoil, compost, raised bed building material, manual labor... let's see, have I spent my thousand dollars yet?

I would close in my deck into a 'Texas' room with a bathroom/shower, build another deck outside of it, and put a fence around my yard. That would make my dog unhappy, and my neighbors happy.

More plants, better landscaping, some more hardscaping and hiding my neighbors behind tall and thick bushes. That should do it. lol

I would use it to prepare my raised beds for the veggie garden. I need to build boxes for the raised beds as being disabled I can not get down and than up off the ground to plant, much less can I dig the garden.

Other: a seed-collecting trip to some far-away part of the world

Resin

Spending $1,000.00 is easily achieved when you have Rolls Royce tastes on a bus ticket budget; specially with those rare plants you can only dream about. So, I would probably splurge on a few philodendrons or rare orchids.

Sylvain.

I would add some sort of extra shading to our patio so the afternoon sun would be tempered a little more allowing us to enjoy the garden more, or on more compost for the garden.

This message was edited Nov 12, 2012 4:11 PM

I'm with lourspolaire, I have champagne taste with a beer pocketbook :(

After a long and rough day in the garden I selected hardscaping maybe to eliminate areas to tend but I really like daylilydreams idea of more shade. That afternoon sun can be a killer in summer.

I said other. My landlord and a select group of tenants have relentlessly tried to evict me and have sprayed herbicide a number of times on the garden to force me to leave. My landlord has imposed $1000 to be paid immediately. So, because I have gardened, I am losing my home. That's what I'd do with $1000 gardening money - save my home.

Add it to the savings to get a Greenhouse.

What a rotten shame, Mike.

Other, as in a combo. Plants yes, tools yes, likely some land/hardscape materials. Perhaps just get as much gravel as I could to better access our back acreage.

Other:

I would buy supplies to build starter greenhouses for others in this area, cattle panels, poly film, heaters, etc. so that every struggling individual or family, that receives a greenhouse, can know what organic food does for their health and the joy of growing one's own food. My dream is to develop a simple manual for the starter greenhouse for them and help them to learn like we all are learning about gardening.

This message was edited Nov 12, 2012 9:48 PM

Solace, a $1000 would buy a lot of DG subscriptions for those you care about and they could learn along with us!

I have a large, beautiful private garden that I would love to address. It needs to be leveled to prevent the soil from being pulled over the side onto the patio. I would fill it with new, rich garden soil, add topsoil, some mulch and have all the Brugmansias that I could grow. I would add in a small boulder or two for visual effects and that would be my dream garden!!

I would invest it in periennial vegggies that sell well here in this part of the country. Asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb etc. Also, I have been adding edibles to the homestead every year as I can afford them. Black berries, service berries, aronia, goji, etc. We are building a real house (old used mobilehome for now) starting in the spring, and we want to line our driveway with sugar maples. The $1000 dollars would go towards these projects.

My project for the coming year is a veggie garden so that's where I'd spend my $

I would use the money for a short 18" retaining/sitting wall along our alley so we'd have a place to sit when the neighbors walk past and stop for a chat (about $150). Maybe some 18" patio blocks for the back yard would be nice, too (another $150). Hate moving the lawn furniture to mow under it! I'd buy the rest of the peonies I need to finish the restoration of my great-grandfather's 1928 garden (probably $500 with international shipping), and use the rest to help my neighbors! What was that dollar limit again?

I guess landscaping as I am the very worst at design as I have stated often i am of the Charlie Manson school of design HELTER SKELTER as for any of the others I am okay with what I have ..Lately I have been volunteering as a gardener for our little city and this lets me plant pretty much whatever I want ,i can go to the local greenhouse get what I need and charge it to the Mayor BTW she is a dolly parton look alike , today I planted some Crimson Clover on some south facing banks that are very visible from the Hiway should be nice for spring blooms ...

With an extra $1,000 I could have someone build a chicken coop and rabbit hutches. There would probably be enough left over to purchase chicks, rabbits and feed. Their manure would help my vegetable garden.

You'd have laughed, Honeybee, to have seen my reaction when I was just starting to garden and my neighbor, the real PIRL, said she was going to the farmstand and did I want any chicken manure. She wasn't one to joke so I knew she must be serious but I had no idea how they'd collect such a thing. I envisioned people running after chickens with scoops under them! It's all part of the live and learn process.

other, -growin, you are probably goin to be MUCH happier away from such killjoys!!! be sure you get where there are sympathetic gardeners in abundance. Just supplies for me, for maintenance, heaven knows plants come in masses down south-good and bad. May look into greenhouses when other half and I decide where we wish to settle, chuckle- Wyo is not out of the question on many days...

Difficult-To-Find seeds of rock garden plants that aren't found in local nurseries.

I'd put the $1,000 toward a greenhouse!

I love water. I'd put it to a larger pond. The one I have is small. Know what they mean when they say, "always make it bigger".

If possible I'd love to have a farm pond but that maybe a bit out of 1000$ range.

Tool shed and/or greenhouse

More raised bed materials and veggies to put in them, plus materials to build the side yard entry gate.

I said landscape - I need to repair a retaining wall and build another. We are losing our hill :(

Hardscape no doubt l ! Favorite plants absolute!!

It has to be a pond w a waterfall. I would be lounging in the shade listening to it as I remember my Grandfather's farm so long ago. While doing needlework or crochet. Could give up city life in a heartbeat! :)

If you give a mouse a cookie.... Already spent it and then some. Just re-did some landscaping in our front and back yards. You know how it works. You start out doing one thing and it leads to more. That $1000 would just replenish what I already spent.

An Irrigation system complete with timers. Hoses get heavy the further out in the yard ya get....and 150 feet of hose is some kind of a "drag"...grin

I'd redo my irrigation system. It has been there for 15 years and needs updating badly.

we would get a fountain for sure!

I'd get my pond fixed!

Although it's awful tempting to go for garden jewelry and landscaping, the thought of expanding the vegetable garden rises to number 1! Compost, mulch, a drip irrigation system and those tasty veggies, herbs and fruit that my family can enjoy fresh, frozen and canned - that's the ticket!

Considering what's going on with our economy these days a family veggie garden and fruit orchard will become a necessity. A few years back my daughter and I visited Estonia and Germany. We were amazed at the gardens and fruit trees that were in most every yard or community garden. Our guide, an older lady, told us of the hard times under Soviet domination when if you didn't grow your own food, you virtually starved or suffered from malnutrition. Even today Estonia has the highest per capita consumption of sugar in the EU; she explained it's used to preserve food and the EU places a high tax on their "excess sugar" usage. Gee, what else is coming our way?

Garden_Sass - I have been moving slowly to that - planting more fruit trees (apple, pear, plum) but it will be a while before they are big enough to produce fruit. More veggies as well. I need to expand - broccoli, cukes and toms just arent enough. Moved the raised bed the end of this season - will be making a new one next season. Have my base of mulched leaves started already.