7 Secrets to Creating The Garden of Your Dreams Secret #4: Know Where to Invest Your Time, Energy, and Money

Once you’ve settled on a garden style, it’s time to break out the reference books and plant catalogs to create a list of what to buy and how much it all will cost. That's your wish list.

Next, add up the cost of everything on your wish list. Even if you can afford everything on the list, think about how much time and effort it will take to install it all. Can you get it done in one growing season? If the cost is too far beyond your budget, or the work can’t all be done in one season, consider breaking your plan into more manageable phases.

Don’t buy anything that’s not on your list, or before you know it, your garden will look nothing like your original vision.

Stay focused and follow your plan; it’s the map to the garden of your dreams.

Balancing the budget
Creating a balanced gardening budget means weighing the financial cost of proceeding, against the psychic cost of denying yourself a meaningful pursuit. It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, of course. If funds are really tight, instead of buying plants, grow your own from seed, or focus on dividing existing perennials. Or, instead of planting out a whole new flowerbed, buy only a few colorful annuals to create a spectacular, overflowing focal point container.

Just make sure to nourish your soul.

Consider how you can piece together the realities of your own life circumstances with your image of your ideal garden, to fashion a space that’s attainable within a reasonable timeframe.

For more on this topic, go to http://cultivatingtheinnergardener.blogspot.com .

The topic of the June 2011 Cultivating The Inner Gardener e-newsletter: Transform garden ideas from the inner space of your imagination into the material world. To sign up, enter your e-mail in the Yahoo Groups box in the right-hand column.

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