Renowned garden bloggers answer wowOwow’s most digging questions.

Organic Is the Least Expensive Way to Go

Organic gardening is definitely the least expensive way to go. It’s not a matter of switching to organic products; the goal is no products at all. That’s possible when you choose the right plants and have healthy soil (or focus on improving the soil you have). —Susan Harris, GardenRant and Sustainable-Gardening

Compost Is Free

It shouldn’t be. Making your own compost is free. Not relying on sprays or chemical fertilizers saves you money. —Pamela Penick, founder of Digging and Penick Landscape Design

Organic Is Nearly Free

Organic gardening should cost almost nothing. Mulch, use companion planting techniques, group plants with similar needs, maintain a compost pile and find organic alternatives to chemicals if and when the need arises. A healthy, balanced garden will almost never need costly chemical intervention. —Patricia Blais, creator and author of Gardensablaze.com 

The Only Price Is Patience

True organic gardening is not expensive because you cultivate a garden that is not dependent on extraneous water, fertilizers and pesticides. Organic fertilizers and pesticides usually cost the same as their chemical counterparts and have a longer effect because of their natural, time-released properties. On the other hand, true organic gardening does take more patience then chemical-dependent gardening because the results are not as instantaneous. —Shirley Bovshow, garden design expert and blogger at ShirleysGarden.com, EdenMakers.com and GardencenterTV.com

Hello! Compost Is Free

Absolutely not! Organic gardening can actually be much more cost-effective in comparison to conventional gardening. A gardener can make compost for free from their old plant debris and in turn have one of the best plant amendments one can find. —Cynthia Thompson, author of Brambleberries in the Rain

An Alternative to Spending ‘Oodles’

Going organic in your garden is easier than you might expect. It’s all about managing your garden for long-term results. It’s important to keep in mind your climate and soil type — if you grow plants that don’t fit your climate and soil conditions, then you will spend a lot more money and time amending your soil to fit the plants’ conditions. Take your plant clippings, grass clippings and leaves you have and create your own compost pile to mulch your garden and “feed” it rather than spending oodles of money at the nursery purchasing compost. —Jennifer L. Scott, aka "Miss Daisy," executive assistant for Fusion-io and founder of Gardening With Miss Daisy

Absolutely Not!

Going organic means you are not spending money on nasty toxic chemicals. Instead of buying Miracle Grow, you turn your yard waste into free fertilizer — compost. Even if you have to pay your kids a small allowance to help pull weeds or stomp on Japanese beetles, that’s probably cheaper than buying Roundup and pesticides. —Jessica, author of The Garden Blog of a girl growin’ Southern

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