on a budget

ON A BUDGET

so i asked

how much do i have to spend

nothing i was told

later

well a hundred dollars

so

i was given the task of landscaping this house

for habitat for humanity 

it was a repo

well the owners just walked off and left it 

trashed i must add

its in an area of two blocks of houses that habitat has built

considering the lower income of its owners

the repo rate is lower than banks and mortgage companies

these folks put a lot of sweat equity into their house

and

lots and lots of pride

so i talked to the new homeowner to see what she wanted

drew up a plan 

there was no way to do it for $100

so i started scrounging around for stuff

first 

a friend of my wife she called 

she had lava rock they were removing from their house

would i like it to use at a habitat house

you betcha i said

so

i brought in a load of the lava rock 

make a bed in the front of the house

cost nothing 

on the market $120 for that load

then

i get a call from someone who noticed an ad for free rocks

the little ole lady wanted all the rocks removed from her property

3 truck loads of rocks

i used the limestone blocks to line the lava rock bed in the 

front 

as well as the garden bed in the front 

where two dwarf yaupon hollies and two salvia greggis were planted

two tough as nail plants that survive even with neglect

i keep a fund of money ive collected for these projects

so from this fund

i bought the above plants 

real cheap from a local nursery that gives me cheap wholesale

prices

and

a yard of good garden soil to use for the beds

cost $60 

then we used the $100 for a yard of compost and sand

to spread on the yard

two yards of mulch to make a large bed around the 

pecan trees in the front and back and a small white oak

in the back 

then

i have a big bag of organic fertilizer i keep here at the

country n 

i donated a small amount and fertilized the grass

it cost me probably $3 for the fertilizer i used

then

i seeded some bermuda grass in bare spots in the yard

from a large bag given to me to use for this

so here is the end result

cost to habitat was $100

$60 from my slush fund

thanks to all who have contributed

the rest of the materials were donated

the actual cost had it been bidded out

would probably be $2000

so 

not bad huh

the organicgreen doctor