Tag Archives: gardening

How to Start a Garden without Splurging

Save Money

Sunshine, flowering blooms, and the smell of something new, planting season is the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors and begin planting your summer garden. If you’re like most hobbyists, you find your plants each year at area greenhouses and nurseries searching for that perfect pop of color.  This year, Timberwood Bank challenges you to try something different and save both time and money with these helpful gardening savings hacks:

Start from Seed: Instead of purchasing six packs of blooms, enjoy entire plots of flowers at only a fraction of the cost. A packet of mixed annual seeds may run three to four dollars and can fill an entire garden with colorful and productive plants for years to come. For some varieties, you’ll want to start them indoor using seedling pots and potting soil. After a few weeks, they’ll be ready to transplant outdoors!

Direct Sow: For some heartier varieties of plants, you can skip the indoor growing and head straight to the outdoors. These cold-tolerant flowers grow best without the shock of transplant. Some great examples are sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, and nasturtiums. If you’re planning on using any of your flowers for indoor arrangements, be sure to plan to direct sow succession plantings as well.

Make Your Own Compost: Natural fertilizer is composed of decomposing organic matter. Avoid paying the high cost of produced compost and create an outdoor container for all your table scraps throughout the season. Allow them to deteriorate along with grass clippings and other yard waste to make a nitrogen-rich supplement to aid your garden’s growth. This added nutrition will help your plants blossom and produce more flowers throughout the year.

Save Your Seeds: To further save on costs, learn how to collect your garden’s own seeds. After harvesting several plants, collect and dry their seeds to use for planting next year. You can save them in handmade envelopes and categorize them to easily find them each year. Typically seeds that are properly dried can be successfully planted for up to three years.

What are you waiting for? Get out there and start gardening! If you have a true passion for gardening and are looking to start a small business or make some renovations to your outdoor area, our experienced team can lend a hand. We’d love to hear your next gardening goal and discover how we can help you achieve it.

7 Tips to Decrease Your Gardening Costs This Season

7 Gardening Tips for Budget

Gardening season is upon us! Whether you’ve been gardening for decades or are flexing your green thumbs for the first time, save some green as you grow it this spring with these helpful tips from Timberwood Bank:

  1. Study the sun. You can burn hundreds of dollars by accidentally placing plants in areas that receive too much or too little sunlight. Take time before planting to make notes on the sun’s path across your yard, scoping out key sunny and shady spots along the way.
  2. Invest in mulch. A layer of fresh mulch aids in protecting against soil erosion while cutting the costs of weed killer.
  3. Reuse newspapers. Before you lay down protective mulch, spread layers of old newspapers directly onto the soil to block weeds and lock in moisture. Eventually the newspaper decomposes while saving on water costs in the long-run.
  4. Try natural bug protection. Instead of buying pricey pesticides and bug zappers, place fabric softener sheets next to outdoor light fixtures to deter flying insects.
  5. Make your own weed killer. Eco-friendly and inexpensive, you can create your own weed killer by mixing 1 gallon of white vinegar with 1 ounce of liquid dish soap. Put this mixture in a spray bottle and directly apply to weeds for the maximum effect.
  6. Start composting. Create nature’s best fertilizer in your own backyard by forming a small compost pile of kitchen and yard waste. Not only do you reduce your footprint by saving space in a landfill, but your homemade compost saves you money and increases the yield of your plants.
  7. Plant the pricier edibles. To save money, time, and precious garden real estate, invest in planting herbs and vegetables that would normally cost you a bundle at the grocery store. Grow pricier crops such as raspberries, shallots, and basil yourself and buy cheaper produce like lettuce, carrots, and parsley at your local farmers markets.

At Timberwood Bank, it’s always growing season when it comes to building your wealth. If you’re looking to prosper your financial gains stop by and give us a call at 608-372-2265 today!

Spring Into Spring

Spring Into Spring

Shake off colder temps, for spring has sprung! Squeeze the most out of this blooming season with these warmer weather activities to help you unthaw:

  1. Declutter your closet. To make it more open and airy, purge your wardrobe of all the clothes you didn’t wear over the winter. Donate the castoffs and make room for summer essentials.
  2. Try your hand at Frisbee golf. Running around on a grassy course soaking up the fresh air. Frisbee golf is the perfect cure to your winter blues. Grab some friends and some discs and you’re in business!
  3. Road trip to a bizarre local attraction. If famous landmarks like the World’s Largest Cheeto or Ice Cream Capital of the World are just an hour or two away, why not seize the day? Hop in your car, roll down your windows, and take a mini road trip to visit a nearby town’s pride and joy.
  4. Visit a greenhouse. Waiting until the summer to start your garden limits your options. Stretch your growing season by visiting a greenhouse, where you’ll find new plants, flowers, and produce seedlings to add to your bounty.
  5. Go mushroom hunting. Morel mushrooms grow all across the United States and sprout in the spring, making them a seasonal delicacy. Never gone hunting before? It’s easy!
  6. Get together for a grill fest. Dust off and light up your grill to celebrate warmer temperatures with friends and family. Challenge each guest to bring a dish designed for the grill so that every part of the meal – meat, veg, fruit, and dessert – is prepared outdoors.
  7. Catch a sunrise. With coffee and cocoa in tow, head to a nearby park or nature reserve to catch the sun as it rises over budding trees and new wildlife. Go all-out cooking up a delicious breakfast spread after the main event.
  8. Hit up flea markets and garage sales. One man’s trash is another man’s weekend discovery. As your neighbors spring clean, snap up items from the ridiculous to the sublime.
  9. Wash the cars. There’s something innately satisfying about watching months-worth of dust and sludge slide off a now-sparkling vehicle. Involve the whole family in the scrubbing and splashing, and reward them with ice cream at a local parlor afterwards.
  10. Get dirty. Whether it’s planting flowers, embarking on a DIY landscaping project, or simply sinking your hands and feet into gooey mud, nothing screams spring quite like dirt-streaked clothes. Embrace the mess!

Adventure is out there – go grab it! Be sure to share your favorite spring activity on our Facebook page and show us your favorite spring activity!