Estelle

Plant sales- there's a HUGE one in Reading MA if you're looking to take a road trip: called Sisters Plants...they have a website here and it's DEFINITELY worth the trip. It's so big they usually have a police detail on their street. Prices are CHEAP, and lots of people (not "vendors"...just average people selling their garden divisions all at her house)

The 'garden club' sales- always looking for those.
Yard Sales- those with plants are few & far between, but people are starting to advertise more on Craigslist, and will put their inventory on the ad, so you can find the plant ones.

Freecycle: Always good for putting up a Want-Ad or answering people who are looking to divide their plants- also if you're willing to offer to divide for them. Internet safety dictates to always bring a friend with you...

Freecycle is also good for collecting nursery pots or other 'dairy' containers that people save that you can use to plant stuff in

Sign on bulletin board at work.

Compost. Start now. If you don't have space for a pile, use the 'lasagna' method and do your composting 'in place.'
Got a coffee machine at work? Take the grounds home and use them in your compost pile.
Got a Starbuck's nearby? Ask them for their grounds, too.

Some communities have a 'compost day' where people can come and get compost for free. While I don't LIVE in the community where I work, we do have an Adopt-a-Spot that I can use it for, so that works for THAT site.

Fall leaf collecting: People in 'fancy' neighborhoods actually have pickup for their lawn/leaf materials, and usually it has to be bagged up. A round through one neighborhood and I've got plenty of leaves for my compost pile for the season.

Coleus cuttings: I am not about to let my $4.75 each 'specialty' coleus die, so I've been taking cuttings for 2 years off one retail purchase of several of them. The ones that didn't make it I'm ok with, because there are a LOT that did survive, and those will make a fine tapestry bed for my shady area. No cost after initial investment.

I'm sure there's more...I'll be back if I think of them.

I buy perennials yearly from local charities' sales. One year I bot a baggie of unnamed poppy seeds for 25¢ and they turned out to be peony poppies - gorgeous flower display, altho short lived.

We find plants at yard sales sometimes.

I've occasionally dug up interesting plants along the side of the road. Have to recognize what they are so you don't get an invasive one and make sure you are not on private land. Will be looking for mullein this spring as I love that herbal but haven't found it anywhere on our land.

I've gotten a few nice plants by complimenting people at yard sales on their gardens. Often people have extras and don't want to throw them in the garbage so are happy to share with fellow gardeners. I've done the same thing with my extras.

Swapping with friends has given me some nice plants.

One year when I lived in a milder climate I quickly bot 3 small packs of roses at a large discount store and didn't realize there were 4 in each pack! So I had 12 roses in big pots on my deck. They only cost me pennies each.

Because our land is forested we often dig up small spruce or fir trees and plant them in our house yard. Survival rate has been pretty good.

We feed the birds year round with black oil sunflower seeds and they are my only insect control so I save on insecticidal sprays. Of course the seed costs but I love having lots of birds here. They drop seed all over and it's easy to transplant the largest sprouts and compost the rest. I let many plants self-seed so have extra shastas, Jacob's ladder, lamb's ears, poppies, calendula, columbine, etc. coming every year. Many get weeded eventually but this year I'm keeping every seedling for my new garden.

We have a lot of weed seeds blowing in from the pasture land so DH digs the irises at least every second year to remove the weeds and they fall apart so we have lots of them. They'll be handy this year in the new garden.

Planning to seed more perennials and annuals this year than usual. I do the perennials in wooden flats on the rock base under the deck, it's like a heat sink. The annuals are seeded directly in the garden.

Also look for end of season sales at nurseries. Some places are really great with those, and have all sorts of plants 50% off or more. Some places will even give plants away. I have gotten several things on a free rack.
And if you establish a good relationship with a nursery owner you may be able to ask them to keep any near-death plants for you. Even ask for bags of soil, mulch, etc. that have been split open in shipping and unpacking to be reduced some in price.

In the seven years I have been gardening I have never mail-ordered plants. I have come close to it, but have always backed out as soon as I totaled it all up. They charge extra to ship into WA state :-* So I always just wait and keep my eyes out at the plant stores. I almost always find what I want when I go over shopping in Seattle.

Keep a list of plants you want to get. That will reduce impulse buying and buying the wrong kind of plant. Many a time I have boughten a plant thinking it was what I wanted only to find out it was the wrong species/cultivar.

I have gotten some free bulbs from Brecks. They had a coupon for it in thier catalog, get $25 off when you buy $25 worth of product. Gardens Alive have also had a similar coupon.
CMK

I would say..
buying perennials that multiply quickly so you can divide them among the rest of your garden

I direct sow annuals that are easy to grow from seed and will reseed on their own

swap with friends to get different plants you don't have

end of the season sales, usually you can get plants/bulbs pretty cheap

start cuttings ( I had myself 3 huge gardenias that way)

wait to buy the plants that you have drooled over in the Bluestone catalog till they go on their huge 50% off sale in May!

Meghan

We get a pemit for a pavillion with about 12 tables, at a local park. We have kept it real loose, no tickets for plants, as some trades do, no sales. Just friendly folks and everyone walking around looking at each others table. Trade a plant for a plant or what ever both are happy with.
We sometimes do pre- trades through the TX GW or emails.

By the end of the trade we are all tired and give away as many of our extras as we can con anyone into taking.

Annette

Right now there are a few tomato sprouts growing on my window sill. I took the seeds from just a grocery store tomato! I just put the fresh seeds into a bit of dirt and they all popped up!
CMK

Happy frugal gardening to all ~ FlowerLady

kim

Craigslist also has a free section for those with CL nearby. Unfortunately for me the nearest good CL is a day's drive away.

Long lasting gloves.

Libby

And trading and plant swaps. Can't beat getting new plants for postage. Also helped two friends divide their plants - peonies and hosta. I planted 60+ hosta divisions (each with more than 3 eyes) along the north side of the house. The bed was at least 10 years old when we broke it up. He kept 20 or so clumps, I took the rest which was a 5 gallon bucket full.

Yes, they're cheap and they last a long time. You can get them in any office supply store. This was my own idea. I should patent it :)

Libby

This year I plant A LOT from seed - it is very reasonable, and saves a lot of money. And will do my best to stay away from nurseries, where I go to "just see what's new". Usually most of that "new" follows me home.

Nancy.

Seed saving from one year to the next. You can't save seed from foods you buy at the grocery store because most are hybrid varieties and won't reproduce true. You have to start with heirloom varieties, and save those seeds.

Make my own compost from leaves, paper, grass and kitchen waste. You cut down on a lot of trash by composting junk mail and boxes that canned pet food comes in. Cardboard makes good compost, as does newspapers, paper grocery sacks, clothing labels, dryer lint and cereal boxes.

Make your own seed starting mix from peat and perlite, because it needs to be sterile to prevent damping off and diseases that attack tender new growth. I make my own potting mix from screened compost, sand, used seed starting mix and perlite. It's especially important to have a loose, open potting mix with my nursery pots that have straight sides (cans and pop bottles) otherwise it would be too difficult to get plants out of them for up-potting.

Cheryl

I like the banana peel in the blender thing...I'm going to try that. I do make my own compost every year. I do agree with you, Natalie, about the soil quality. This year I bought garden soil but also a small bag of seed starter and now I mix a little of the starter in w/regular soil. It's a little less expensive, and I seem to be getting a better germination rate.

here's a question...do any of you have a composter? or do you have an operation like me - where you have a big pile in spring/summer of stuff and keep adding to it all season? Just curious if the composters you buy let you compost all year (even in winter)?

Estelle