Guerrilla Gardening

**kaitala** · 03-27-2011, 04:57 PM

So being frugal isn't always glamourous, but it sure can be fun!

Now, new plants are being brought into garden centers all across the country. If you're willing to take the risk, I might have a mission for you.

1. Stake out your local garden centers. Not the big box places like lowe's and HD, but local ones. Find out when garbage day is.

2. Armed with that info, start cruising by the night before. See if you can access their garbage piles.

3. If you can access their garbage pile, ready for the next day's pickup, Dress in camo or all black. Put on the face makeup. Get all "Charlie's Angels". (or not, just trying to make it fun, lol).

4. Pick through the garbage plants and see what you can salvage. There are usually plenty of ugly, but still viable and rehab-able plants in their discard pile.

5. Roll up fast, hit em' hard, and break away clean! Just kidding, but the clean part is imperative. If they have their discards neatly piled on a pallet, dig through, but leave with everything neatly piled. Bring a broom to sweep up dirt if you have to. No place will really whine about you taking from the garbage if you aren't leaving a mess.

6. Cut loose the dead weight. Give your salvaged plants some special pruning, extra water, and a good place to be coddled for a while. They'll need it.

It may be easier just to ask at a garden center for permission to dig through the cast offs. Just tell them you'll be coming after closing, so you can have the fun of dressing up like an Angel, camo face paint and all, and doing some cartwheels and jumps into the "hostile territory".

**itlw8** · 03-31-2011, 11:12 AM

not sure if I am that brave though I do love the distressed plants at Lowes. I got 2 flats of the PW bubblegum petunias for my sister last year for 25 cents each . I pruned them back and nursed them back until school was out. She had the BEST pool side flowers last summer.

**frugalfranny** · 04-01-2011, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by kaitala

No place will really whine about you taking from the garbage if you aren't leaving a mess.

Great idea but think I would have to take a pass..........

The one place I would go just had the owner killed by cops a few months back. He was having so many problems with thieves that when he heard a car in his parking lot he went out with a gun........it was an IDIOT COP IN AN UNMARKED CAR.......and......the story ends.