• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Montana Homesteader

Sharing vintage skills so you can live a simple, more meaningful homemade life- one canning jar at a time!

  • Start here
    • Home
    • About
    • Shop
    • Privacy Policy
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
  • Forage
  • Grow
  • Make
  • Preserve
  • Raise
    • Beekeeping
    • Chickens
  • Homesteading Resources
  • Start here
    • Home
    • About
    • Shop
    • Privacy Policy
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
  • Forage
  • Grow
  • Make
  • Preserve
  • Raise
    • Beekeeping
    • Chickens
  • Homesteading Resources
You are here: Home / GROW / 7 Ways to Find Free or Cheap Garden Plants

7 Ways to Find Free or Cheap Garden Plants

March 7, 2016 //  by Annie Bernauer//  19 Comments

Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Share on Yummly
Yummly

Do you want to expand your vegetable, herb or flower gardens but don’t have a lot of cash to spend? Over the years I’ve figured out quite a few ways to add plants to my gardens and landscaping around the property for free or cheap. Today I’m going to share with you my top seven ways to source more plants for our gardens without spending a lot of cash. 

7 ways to find free or cheap garden plants |Montana Homesteader

This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission when a product is purchased through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you for your support! 

Seven ways to find free or cheap garden plants: 

1. Craigslist Free Ad. We check the free ads on Craigslist at least once a day and it has paid off. Things can go quick on Craigslist so the key is to respond fast if you see an ad for something you want. Over the years I’ve picked up a variety of herbs, perennial flowers and shrubs for free on Craigslist. Last spring we picked up six large Pea Shrubs someone dug out. We planted them on our front fence line along the road to create a privacy hedge. They cost over $20 for a small shrub at the greenhouse in town so this was a great score!

2. Freecycle. If you haven’t signed up for Freecycle in your area, you totally need to do it! It is an online venue organized by communities to give things away. Over the years I’ve picked up quite a few vegetable plants, herbs and perennial flowers from folks downsizing. It is also a great venue to giveaway plants when you’re thinning or downsizing and I’ve done my fair share of this over the years! 

3. Barter/trade. If you know other gardeners in the area, barter and trade with each other for plants. You can swap plants, seeds, or even swap produce in exchange for some plants. Several times I’ve volunteered time weeding in exchange for plants. 

4. Clearance table at the greenhouse. A few years ago I discovered a 75% off table at a greenhouse in town. Every time I’m in that area, I stop in to see what they have. Typically the plants in there are either struggling, done blooming, or have a broken branch or two. I look specifically for perennial herbs, flowers, and shrubs. This is the main way I’ve been able to grow my perennial herb and flower gardens over the years for very little cost. These plants typically need a little extra care, but if you have a green thumb this can pay off. Last summer I bought a large black currant shrub for $4! There are a couple branches in the big pot that don’t have leaves but the rest is healthy. We planted it in our perennial fruit beds in the garden to provide us another fruit source.

Buying perennial herb and flower plants on clearance at the greenhouse

5. Wild harvest and transplant. My mom taught me how to do this as a kid. If we saw perennial wildflowers growing in the fields by the house that were going to get mowed down with the alfalfa, we would dig them out and put them in our flower beds. The key when doing this is to make sure you get as much of the root as possible and water, water, water. I always take a large shovel and try to dig up a big scoop of the soil with the root. Once you transplant it into your garden area, make sure you water it often in the first couple weeks.

6. Grow your own from seeds.  Starting plants from seeds is more cost effective than buying the plants at the greenhouse. You can start your seeds indoors or you can start them in a greenhouse. I started out growing just vegetables and herbs from seeds. I found myself still buying flowers at the greenhouse and the cost was adding up. Last year I started a variety of annual and perennial flowers from seed in my greenhouse. I can still enjoy the beauty of the flowers but it cost me a small fraction of the price since I didn’t buy the plants at a greenhouse. You can save even more money if you start saving your own heirloom seeds to plant so you don’t have to buy seeds at the store anymore! 

7. Craigslist sale ads. Occasionally people will list plants for sale on Craigslist. I’ve found that the prices are usually cheaper than the prices at the greenhouse. We bought more strawberry plants and raspberry canes for a good price from another farm that was thinning their plants and advertised on Craigslist.

Do you have any tips to share on how to find free or cheap garden plants? 

Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Share on Yummly
Yummly

More Homesteading Inspiration

The Backyard Orchardist complete guide to growing fruit trees in the home garden book review Montana Homesteader

The Backyard Orchardist

The Bee Friendly Garden book review | Montana Homesteader

The Bee Friendly Garden

How to grow sprouts at home and eat fresh homegrown greens all winter long Montana Homesteader

How to grow sprouts at home

6 ways to use row cover in the garden to grow more food year round! | Montana Homesteader

6 Ways Row Cover in a Garden will Help You Grow More Food

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden- Learn how to grow tons of organic vegetables in small spaces! | Montana Homesteader

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden

Heirloom seeds, hybrid seeds and more | What's the difference? | Montana Homesteader

Heirloom Seeds, Hybrids and More: What’s the Difference?

DIY self watering milk jug for deep watering in garden or greenhouse | Montana Homesteader

DIY Self Watering Milk Jug

What is a seed library Montana Homesteader

What is a seed library?

Organizing Garden Seeds | Montana Homesteader

Organizing Garden Seeds

How to grow, harvest and store potatoes | Montana Homesteader

Growing Potatoes

5 ways to ripen green tomatoes indoors. Montana Homesteader

How to ripen green tomatoes 5 different ways

growing cabbage in an organic garden in Montana

Growth Explosion in the Garden

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. LeslieH

    June 29, 2014 at 11:32 am

    Go to local nature areas and gather seeds for next years perennials. I’ve also gathered from our state botanical gardens and friends homes when plants are seeding. Another idea is asking neighbors and friends if you can take cuttings of there plants. You can even do cuttings on rose bushes.

    Reply
  2. Dawn

    July 3, 2014 at 5:53 am

    Great tips here, thanks for sharing! This post was chosen as a favorite on our From the Farm blog hop

    Reply
  3. Gentle Joy

    July 3, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Great ideas…. we have used all of them, I think…. sometimes other gardeners are happy to share…. even without barter also…. if they have a lot and need to thin, they may be happy to have them not go to waste. 🙂 Thank you for posting this.

    Reply
  4. madamdreamweaver

    July 3, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Great ideas! It’s not free, but some might be interested in heirloom seeds from Thomas Jefferson Monticello Estate @http://www.monticelloshop.org/farm-garden-seeds-vegetables.html. They have things not commonly available in standard garden shops or catalogs..
    Also for cheap seeds 50 cents a pack, your local Dollar Tree is a good resource. I bought a pack of Rebeckia there that gave me like 30 plants and the Rubeckia I have now self seed, so they’re 3rd generation from that 50 cent pk.

    Reply
  5. Jessica McCormick

    July 5, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    I have a couple more ideas- etsy is a great resource for low cost bulbs and plant divisions, local garden clubs often have low cost plant sales as fundraisers, and if you go to your local garden center or big box store with a garden center towards the end of the season you will likely find shrubs and perennials marked way down.

    Reply
  6. Tanya @ Seven Springs Homestead

    July 9, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    Thanks for sharing this post at The Green Thumb Thursday Garden Blog Hop. We hope you will join us again this week.
    These are great tips on where to find cheap plants. We are actually transplanting numerous grape vines on our property this year. They seem to be springing up everywhere, which is fine with us. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel

    September 16, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    Every year I pinch off my dead marigold heads, dry them, open them up and save the seeds to plant in spring. Besides being free, they are awesome because each seed practically grows into a huge marigold BUSH, much bigger and prolific than the seedlings you buy at Lowes.

    Reply
  8. Michele Petit

    October 13, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    I have learned some really neat things – like growing your own citrus, apples, pears, avocadoes, etc. from seeds from (esp. organic) produce you buy. In your climate, you would have to have a spot for them indoors or greenhouse. One of the neatest is pumpkin and squash seeds but also growing your own sweet potato greens from sweet potatoes you buy.

    Take cuttings from your tomatoes and winter them over in the house or greenhouse. Grow the bottoms of your onions (including green), celery, cabbage, lettuce, (where the roots are, leave a good portion of the part just above and plant in damp soil half way). Let some of your root crops (turnips, carrots, beets, etc) go to seed and transplant what grows next year. Grow a sunflower !

    Reply
    • Hannah

      November 5, 2016 at 4:42 am

      The following time I learn a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I do know it was my option to read, but I really thought youd have something atoaitntn-grebbing to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you possibly can fix if you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.

      Reply
  9. Angie W.

    March 10, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    Our local public library has a seed library that lets you check out seeds to plant and grow. After you harvest you bring the seeds back to “check them back in.”

    Reply
  10. Ann

    March 12, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    When you see someone working their yard ask for ant plants they are getting rid of. Or if there’s a landscaping company redoing a yard do the same the worst they can say is no.

    Reply
  11. Jules

    March 23, 2016 at 7:16 pm

    Thanks for posting this! I use Craigslist for everything else, but have never thought to check for plants there! I will definitely be searching there to see what I can find. What a great idea!

    Reply
  12. MontanaHappy.com

    April 27, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Great tips. I will check Freecycle and Craigslist. Thanks

    Reply
  13. K3Cottage

    July 1, 2016 at 6:25 am

    Video Whether you’re promoting products or offering your services, creating videos is an excellent way to attract new customers. Additionally, videos have a tendency to go viral and quickly reach a large audience.

    Reply
  14. MelvinaPolan

    April 20, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    I see your page needs some unique & fresh content. Writing manually is time consuming, but there is solution for this hard task.
    Just search for; Miftolo’s tools rewriter

    Reply
  15. AmeeSmall

    November 26, 2017 at 2:38 am

    I have checked your website and i have found some duplicate content, that’s why you don’t rank high
    in google, but there is a tool that can help you to create 100% unique articles, search
    for: Boorfe’s tips unlimited content

    Reply
  16. Tina

    February 5, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    Wonderful Tips. I love gardening & homesteading. I will check Craigslist. & Freecycle. Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  17. Sara

    May 27, 2018 at 3:13 am

    Take cuttings and many clumping plants can also be divided into two or more plants that will grow into new clumps.

    Reply
    • Montana Homesteader

      May 27, 2018 at 7:06 am

      Those are great tips, thanks for sharing!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hello I'm Annie and welcome to our blog!

I was raised in an old farmhouse in the country and taught by three generations of women in my family to cook from scratch, can and preserve food, nurture plants to grow, craft with my hands, and live a simple, meaningful life. Now I'm teaching my own children these skills on our little homestead in Montana. I'm sharing these vintage skills here so you too can live a simple, more connected homemade life- one canning jar at a time! Read more...

Site Footer

Some of the posts on this website contain affiliate links. This means I receive a small commission when a product is purchased through these links at no additional cost to you. Montana Homesteader  participates in the Amazon Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!

Follow Montana Homesteader

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
  • Newsletter
  • Homesteading Resources
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 Montana Homesteader · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme