* Birds & other creatures come to live in your garden because they now have a food & water source. - FREE

* Water - FREE

* Flowers & vegetables - .10 per pack

* Ferns, moss, other greens & wildflowers (find them in the woods, along roadsides, a friend's place, around water, etc) - FREE

* Birdhouses, fences, garden benches, planters, swings, etc. (scrap wood, pallet wood) - FREE

* Arbors & waddle fences (make from fallen branches, willow branches, living trees) - FREE

* Goldfish pond - (could be made in a large bucket, buried trash can, wine barrel, dug hole, wheelbarrow, anything watertight) goldfish - .10ea
How I Built the first of my Garden Ponds for under $4

* Architectural elements - these are wood or metal decorations that once adorned an old home. (find in the trash, from a home that is being remodeled, scrap yard, ask a contractor who does remodeling) - almost FREE

* Hanging baskets - anything that you can plant flowers in & hang! Could use an old basket, bucket, wooden box, plastic or metal bowl, burlap or heavy cloth. Just fill with a light soil mixture & plant. - Very Cheap!

* Stones - folks pay you to take them =) (I'm going to build a garden cottage out of mine - but that's another issue =)

To plant my fence garden, I bought seed packets for .10 each, & sowed them very close together. I'm not a very patient person when it comes to garden results & even I was surprised at how fast I had blooms! I'd say within 4-6 weeks there were flowers in my garden! This is very encouraging to a frugal gardener like me!

I also sow packets of perennial seeds in different places around the yard. When the plants bloom & I am able to see how they look when they're mature, I replant them into their new homes within a flower bed of my choosing. This saves me 100s of $$, because perennial plants can run anywhere from $4 - $30 each! With a packet of seeds, you might get 100 - 200 plants for .10! With this example, you also see how someone could earn a good amount of extra money by planting some extra packs of seeds!

Around the country spring is in the air! Let us know how your cottage gardens are doing & we will continue to cover the different subjects above in depth throughout the seasons.

Because..... to me there's no garden like the cottage garden!

Cottage Garden Forums - Ask questions, and share pictures of your cottage gardens!