How much do you spend on your garden?

I'm just curious here....DH is taking early retirement next month, aged 54.We're both pleased about it...neither of us want to work and intend to grow old disgracefully LOL.
BUT....we will be living on a pension, and I need to work out a budget for the garden.I'm thinking of about £150 per annum. What do you think? This is for seeds, plants, compost etc.
Marigold.

Early retirement, gosh he must be getting a good pension, i have relatives that have been made redundant with a one off payment and their company pension and they are having a lovely time. Me i am nearly 58 and Bernard is nearing 59 and we are still working hard, but love it though.But if i got offered a good package i suppose i would take it but no chance.Well if you will be home a lot you can do a lot of your own propagation and seed growing,it wont be too expensive and i suppose 150-200 per annum should see you right.Leave plenty of money to enjoy life to the full, i suppose you are lucky to be able to have this freedom so early, a lot of my family(all coal miners)never lived to enjoy their pension, so enjoy yourselves and live life to the full.

Depends what you already have in your garden and what you intend growing i'd say. That should do you for compost and seed. What about mowing the lawn? Is your mower okay (petrol if petrol mower)e.g servicing? Do you have to pay for any work yet e.g. trees that might need felling and so on. Are your fences okay? And your paths and drive?
When you really really get into old age you may need to pay someone to come once a fortnight - going rate is £6 an hour for unskilled labour but expect to pay up to £15 an hour for people with own tools. And there's a lot of cowboys out there.
I'd say you should be able to manage if your garden is in fine fettle and you're both active. Probably could be that way for quite a number of years. Choose long-lasting plants or plants which are good self-seeders. Peonies live a long time (I've some that are over 40 years old).

Hi
I,ve had to retire because of ill health reasons this year, so I,m now minus my own money,
I,ve always raised my own plants from seed, and any extras, there are normally loads of those, I put put on a little table that my other half has made for me in the drive. I only charge 50-80p per plant, or 50p a strip of annuals, I get enough money to buy my next bag of compost and they get lovely plants cheap. I was so chuffed as I had a lady come up this summer and said that her garden was looking great, and that she,d recommended me to lots of her friends. Hubby,s worried now though that this will turn into a business ! so I,ll be back where I started. From my point of view it,s not much more to prick out 60 plants as 40,and I do hate to throw things away.I save all marge tubs,meat tubs etc for seed sowing and pricking out, mage lids are cut intostrips to make labels, I start them off in my sun-lounge so I don,t have to heat the greenhouse.And this year I,ve done loads of seed swops, and for the price of a stamp I,ve had great seeds in exchange,some that cost 2-3£ in catalogues.I did wonder about having someone in to do the heavy stuff that I can no longer do(hubby hates gardening) but I,m waiting to see how my finances pan out(or don,t)

I too suppliment my garden from a minor gardening income. I have made hanging baskets and sold garden seeds and plants which makes a reasonable few pounds each year.

Starting many plants by seed is fairly cheap and of course there is always trading to keep the costs down on seed buys. WI stalls and similar have cheap plants and I've found several unusual plants this way for 10% of their normal price. Belonging to a local gardening club can also result in plant swaps and their end of year sales can be really good.

Compost for seed starting can be pricey but I should imagine well within the budget you have allowed yourself. I paint cheap terracotta and plastic pots too but I've not used them outside yet and some places sell off cuts of wood for trellis or other building very cheaply. If they aren't offering a discount be cheeky and ask for one!

Baa.... please could you explain how you 'paint cheap terracotta and plastic pots' ? Last year, I sold a lot of what I thought was 'junk' at car boot sales, and realised that there might be a way of making money here.....if only I could think of something that would attract the punters.
Marigold.


This message was edited Thursday, Nov 8th 5:14 PM

Marigold, have you got my letter yet containing the viola seeds, my son said he has posted it.

Hi Sheila.... no I have not received a letter from you yet.When did your son post it?
Marigold.

I had some silver (smooth) Hammerite paint left over from sprucing up the bike and cover the pots in that. (It stinks to high heaven).

Once the base coat is on, I either spot spray it with car paint while its still wet (it runs, I'll try and take some pics of examples) or allow the base to dry and then use something called Patio Paint (you can get it in craft shops) or poster paint and decorate. If you use poster paint you may need to seal it with a clear coating if you are going to use them outdoors. I've seen pots painted with Gloss paints and emulsions too.

I do this with my pots too,you can have a great colour theme too,i like blue pots with a yellow flower in it such as Margarites-what are they called now.Will keep you occupied through the winter, i do it either in the conservatory or garage so have plenty of ventilation.