Gardening season is in full bloom, the time of year when seasoned gardeners and weekend warriors spend hours turning over soil, adding manure and mulch to patches of brown dirt, and combing local garden centres to find delicate flowers to create the perfect garden oasis.

Last week, we popped over to a friend’s house because they wanted some advice on how to spruce up the gardens at the front of the house to maximize their curb appeal before they put up their house for sale this summer. They didn’t want to spend a lot of money, which made me start thinking creatively about how you can create a beautiful, welcoming space without draining your pocketbook. Here are some tips for gardening on a shoestring.

• Divide and conquer: if you have perennials, see what plants can be divided. Hostas, lilies, irises all thrive when split. If you don’t have perennials, see if any friends will give you some.
• Go wild: look for ferns and wild phlox on the side of roadways or laneways. Just make sure you are not digging up plants on private property without permission (and watch for poison ivy!)
• Use nature’s bounty: Go beachcombing and find a unique piece of driftwood to add interest to your garden.
• Make it artful: Look for unique or interesting pieces that could be used for planters or to add a whimsical element to your garden, like old boots, bicycles, watering cans, etc.
• Sow some seed: Scatter a pack of zinnia or wildflower seeds, an inexpensive way to create colour in a larger space.
• Buy local—many fundraising groups hold plant sales this time of year to raise money—not only will you save money, you’ll be helping a good cause.
• Come from good stock: If you are buying annuals from a gardening centre, make sure they are good stock and see if they can be split. The begonias I bought at my local gardening centre had two large blooms in a single pot, so I was able to split them, doubling my money.

I was always find this particular time of year a little sparse in my garden, after the spring bulbs have died off and before the roses, peonies, and irises bloom, but here are some pics from my garden this morning. Happy gardening!

Above: the ferns around this old birdbath we inherited were all dug up by the side of the road. In this photo, an old watering can adds colour to the pot by my front porch.

The begonias I got from Sheila’s Greenhouses in Moscow were so big with two distinct plants in each pot, I was able to split them for my pots on the back deck.

Dave and the girls tease me all the time about my garden tchotchke. This hummingbird flag greets visitors and the chicken we bought at a cool art studio in Brewerton, New York years ago.

More ferns from the roadsides, hostas which we’ve split over the years and perennial geraniums in bloom. I can’t even remember where we got the white cross statue.