It’s time to start thinking about your annual garden! If you want veggies and flowers galore without tons of random costs piling up, try a few of these cheap DIY ideas:

1. Never buy a watering can again! There’s no need to buy watering cans when you’ve already purchased a gallon milk or water jug. Once the jug is empty, simply fill it with water and cut a few holes in the lid to create an effective watering tool.
   
   
2. Keep cardboard boxes from deliveries. Save your cardboard as a natural weed killer. Just lay it on the ground to block sunlight from the grass or weeds you want to remove. Cover the cardboard with soil and plant flowers or vegetables right on top.
   
   Over time, the weeds and grass will die and the cardboard will naturally rot away!
   
   
3. Keep pests away with eggshells. Eggs aren’t cheap! So why not use them for more than one purpose? Crumble your eggshells and spread them around your plants to safely ward off slugs, snails, and other pests.
   
   
4. Repurpose old curtain rods as DIY tomato stakes. Instead of buying a tomato stake from the store, try using an old curtain rod or any other long, stick-like object you may have lying around to prop up your tomato plant this season.
   
   
5. Hang on to old colanders to create hanging planters with built-in drainage. If you have old, metal colanders cluttering your cabinets, easily turn them into rustic hanging planters! Just tie a few pieces of string, twine or chain through the colander handles, attach a hook to the other end of the strings, and you have a stylish hanging basket.
   
   TIP: Line the inside of the colander with coffee filters or burlap fabric before filling it with soil and planting your flowers.