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All winter long, gardeners dream of flowerbeds and vegetable gardens, yearn for the earthy aroma of compost. Our hands ache to dig in the soil.

When the weather breaks, we storm the garden centers, debit cards at the ready. We fill our carts with six packs, imagining rows of brightly colored flowers. We gather up leafy sprouts, anxious to harvest the abundance of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.

Feverish now with the visions of bounty, of beauty, of butterflies and hummingbirds coming to pay homage to the worlds we create, we nearly swoon when we see we've spent $173 on plants.

The cashier has yet to ring up the cherub statue, the sundial, the decorative clay pots or the compost.

As a financially challenged gardener, I've developed a few safeguards against overspending at the garden center. Here are a few of my ideas.

1. Sketch out your vegetable garden
Design your garden on paper, designating where the tomatoes will be, the cucumbers, etc. Write on your sketch how many of each kind of plant you need. Seeing it on paper will help control impulse buying.

2. Design your flowerbeds
Before going to the nursery, make a list of which flowers you want to grow. Decide how the beds will be laid out, and sketch those as well.

3. Think perennial
Buy perennial flowers and herbs whenever possible. This will reduce spending in subsequent seasons. An established garden will require less financial investment, but you can mix in a few annuals to keep it fresh.

4. Do successive plantings
Plan your gardens to allow for plantings over several weeks. This will prolong the season, and allow you to spread the spending out over several paychecks.

5. Resist the ornamental aisles
These items are usually expensive and unnecessary. If you want to decorate your garden, check out the clearance bins. Better yet, shop your local thrift shops, or search your own home for cast off items that can be recycled for ornamentation.

6. Buy the best tools you can
Buy the best gardening tools you can afford. Purchasing a new set each season is a waste of money. Tools are an investment, not just a purchase.

7. Talk to the gardening expert
Most nurseries and garden centers have at least one person who knows everything about gardening. Ask this person which plants he or she feels do the best for the kind of garden you want. This will lessen the amount of plants that fail.

These suggestions can help you reduce your spending without sacrificing any of the joy of gardening. You still get to shop the garden centers; you just won't suffer sticker shock at the register.

Learn more about this author, Shelly Mcrae.
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