St. Paul, Minn. -- Gardening experts say now is the time to protect your investment; spending some time in the garden in the fall could save you a whole bunch of time and money in the spring.
U of M Horticulture Science Professor Bud Markhart says you can save some money by saving your grass clippings, leaves, and veggie table scraps. "If we can put em' in a compost pile, we can recycle all those nutrients into the garden, we're just saving money that way," he explained.
Markhart suggests you get a good 2 inches of compost mix with some dirt on your garden in the fall and then wait, and reap the benefits in the spring. "So If you've got good organic matter in your soil, then you're going to fertilize less and you don't need to irrigate as often because the soil is going to do it all for you. We don't think about the season coming to an end, we're really thinking about what are we doing for next season?"
Dick Weber, owner and designer of Weber's Westdale Flowers, Home & Garden in Minnetonka, says now's a great time to plant some shrubs. He says spending a little green now is better than spending a lot of green in the spring. "I see around town, some people have them for up to 70% off. Next spring they're going to cost you the full amount because normally stuff like that isn't on sale in the month of May or June."
Weber, who doesn't have a stake in the game because he doesn't sell shrubs, also notes that if you plant them in the fall and tend to them before the freeze, they're more likely to flourish by the time we thaw out.
You spent plenty of time and enough money tending to your garden all summer long. The experts say if you spend a little more time and a maybe even a little bit of money, you'll save on both, by the time spring rolls around.
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