Salvaging Plants...How To Get Plants for Free

There are usually many good reasons for doing things. Salvaging plants is no different. There are reasons why someone would salvage plants. Usually these reasons include money, which may be the most popular reason, and simply to try and save a plant that is in desperate need of help. If you are interested in becoming a gardener who salvages plants, then there will be a few things you will need to know, such as where to find these plants and which plants are actually best for the task.

One place to find plants to rescue or salvage is the dumpster at your local garden center. If you are not into dumpster diving, then ask the owner or manager at the garden center if they have any plants that they are going to throw away. Who knows they may just say yes, that they do and you are welcome to them. I happened to be at a place one day where the employee had just trimmed back a bunch of ivy and they gave the cuttings to me. That was a great day.

Another business that comes across unwanted plants is landscape contractors. If you notice a home or business being relandscaped, you may just luck out and get to salvage some good plants. It never hurts to ask even though you could end up doing the digging or carefully going through the trash pile or even the dumpster at the site. Be sure to look for bulbs where plants may have been at one time, you just never know what you may find.

Other building locations can also be a good place to salvage plants. Occasionally you may come across an old estate or home being demolished to may way for a new home or building. There may be plants there that are need of rescuing and all you need to do is ask.

Plants to look for to salvage that transplant relatively easy are cacti, succulents, bulbs, ornamental grasses, herbaceous perennials, roses, herbs, dwarf shrubs, shrubby willows, smaller palms, strap-leafed plants, peonies, lilies, yuccas, ferns and vines.

Salvaging plants is a great way to save some money and save a few plants at the same time. Increasing the plant population in your garden can be as easy as asking for the plants that will be thrown away, even though getting them may not be as easy as going into a store and simply buying them. It may require dumpster diving or even digging the plants up, but in the long run it will be worth it if you get to enjoy beautiful flowers the following spring all because of your efforts.