by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: January 20, 2009   Last Updated: August 15, 2010

Gardeners love to add new plants and flowers to their gardens. Sometimes, however, especially in a tight economy, people don't want to go to a garden center to purchase new plants. Many don't think about the fact that they could  take the seeds that their existing flowering plants produce, or cuttings they may take, or even divisions from other plants, and share them with other gardeners. By taking these seeds, cuttings, divisions, or even extra bulbs and setting up some sort of exchange, it will be possible to take some of the excess in your garden and trade that for things you want but may not have.

Here is a look at some ways to start swaping with friends, neighbors or family members.

*Sharing seeds -

If you can't get together with your friends and/or family to have a swap in person, it is possible to set up an arrangement whereby seeds can be sent through the mail. Get a group of people who are willing to commit to participating. Establish the parameters so that everyone understands what is expected. You may want to make sure that everyone will be able to pay the same amount of postage.

With this sort of arrangement, you can start out with a fixed number of seeds and send the package to the first person on the list. They can take out what they want, and put in enough of their own seeds to compensate for what they have taken. In other words, if you take five packages of seeds (and these are seeds from the gardens of all of the participants,) you must put five packages of your own seeds in. Then, the package is shipped to the next person and so on, until the package returns to the person who originally sent it, allowing them to choose the seeds they want.

*A neighborhood swap -

If you live in a neighborhood with a bunch of gardeners, you may decide you want to get together to exchange or swap plants or cuttings with each other. For this type of swap to be fair, everyone will have to bring the same number of things to be exchanged. It is necessary to establish some guidelines as to how things will work before the swap begins. It's a good idea to do something like pick numbers to determine the order in which people will get to choose their plants. You might want to have each person choose one plant and then start the cycle all over again.

*Online groups -

There are many online gardening groups that have been created to allow people to exchange their plants, cuttings, seeds and so forth. These groups are generally very well run. They work by allowing members to create lists of what they have. They can decide whether they will only trade like items for like items, or whether they will share things for nothing much more than the postage, which the recipient is expected to pay.

Whether you want to start your own swap by mail, create a neighborhood gathering where gardeners and plant lovers can share their bounty with other gardeners, or whether you would prefer to try to start something online, or even join an existing group, sharing garden bounty and trading what you have with others who have things you don't have is a great way to expand a garden, get some new plants to add interest to your garden, and fill in places. The best part is that you won't have to purchase these plants because you were able to get them from someone you may or may not know, for free.

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