If your heart flutters every time you see a new flower bud or when the time to trim the hedge rolls around, you are a die-hard gardener.
You have the best tools, you enjoy researching ways to keep pests from eating your plants, you may even find yourself dishing out advice at the supermarket to strangers about how to increase the size of their blooms.
You may not want to start a full-time business, but wouldn’t it be nice to make a little more income while doing what you love?
You can also recoup some of the cost of the quality gardening tools you’ve accumulated. Being an amazing gardener can mean more than just boosting your mood, it can mean raking in the green, money-wise, of course!
We’ve come up with some creative ways you can spread the joy of gardening, show off your talent and know-how while earning some extra money in the process.
Keep the Neighbourhood Beautiful by Tending Another Garden
Maybe your neighbours compliment your hard work and the beauty of your garden beds. Maybe they even ask you for advice about how to better maintain their own garden.
This means that your neighbours admire your lawn and garden. You can extend the reach of your green thumb by offering to take over some of their landscaping duties.
You will want to price out new plants if they’re required and estimate how much time you will spend on their garden per week. You also have to compensate for the investment you’ve made in the best hedge trimmers and other lawn tools.
To accurately quote them, add up:
- The price of the plants (plus 15% for travel, time and surplus in case some do not take)
- A percentage of the value of other tools you already own (usually around 5-10% is fair)
- How many hours you think you will work multiplied by how much you think your time is worth per hour. Factor in planning time and the time it takes to get to their home.
People love the elegance of potted arrangements, which makes them highly valuable.
Sell Potted Arrangements or Specimens
People love the elegance of potted arrangements, potted specimens and potted plant collections, but they often don’t know how to create these on their own. This makes them highly valuable if you can do it for them.
If you can successfully seed and divide your plants, this will help increase your profit margin.
To sell your potted arrangements:
- Buy attractive pots and potting soil in bulk. Terracotta is always a safe choice if you’re worried about the taste or preference of potential customers.
- Purchase shipping materials. You can find plant-specific shipping boxes or make your own.
- Get an accurate price by comparing what’s available online. Make sure you account for the price of the pots, soil, plants and your time.
- Register a domain name that is worthy of your arrangements and create a botanically themed online shop.
- Make sure you take high-quality photos and provide interesting descriptions.
- When it comes to packaging, make sure you bag the soil and use packaging that will keep your product secure and undamaged in the shipment.
Market Your Herbs and Produce at the Farmers Market
You’ve probably strolled through a green market or farmers market recently. Wouldn’t it be fun to display your healthy plants, or offer your community the amazing herbs and produce you grow? If you think it would be, you can!
To sell your produce or plants at your community market:
- Check the market’s website to learn more about their requirements. Some markets will only do business with state-registered businesses, while others only allow vendors to sell certified organic produce. Most also have display requirements.
- Fill out their application.
- Invest in a table, chair, chalkboard, pint and quart containers, shopping bags and possibly small a scale. Hint: if you use pints or quarts, you can use them to measure and display the produce, but you don’t have to let the customer take them home. Reuse them by transferring their buy into a shopping bag.
- To gain a larger following, create a Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest page for your booth.
Let Others Enjoy the Beauty of Your Bouquets
If your rose blossoms are the biggest you’ve ever seen, why not share the love by selling bouquets?
Offer the occasional bride or event planner access to your flowers for their big events. Flower arrangements and centerpieces can be a great way to earn extra money.
To sell bouquets:
- Use word of mouth and call up some event planners or ask friends or family that are planning a wedding if they would be interested.
- Check with local florists to compare how much they charge with what you believe your arrangements are worth. Remember to factor in how much time it takes, ribbon, vases and cost of the plants.
- Always take photos of the final outcomes to post or share to stir up more interest.
Sell Your Seeds
You probably have your favourite varieties of tomatoes, squash and hydrangea. If you’ve gotten great at seeding your own plants, you can package extra seeds and sell them, too.
Check out this helpful video about how to seed your plants:
People will appreciate that you have selected the best varieties and that you can offer advice on how to properly start the seeds.
To sell your seeds:
- Purchase seed envelopes or create your own.
- Label the envelopes and decide how many seeds to include per packet.
- You will probably want to create a unique description and instructions for your customer to properly grow the seeds.
- You can sell your seeds online, at the market or at a local seed exchange.