This is the fourth year in a row in which, when mid May rolls around, I declare, “Time to Sell the Yard!’
It all started when I decided to get rid of many of the things in my front yard landscape such as hostas, periwinkle, day lilies, lily of the valley, bee balm, bachelor button, ground ivy, lambs ear, shasta daisy, ferns, etc., and replace it with perennial kale, cabbage, potatoes, etc.
But don’t get me wrong, I like well-manicured landscapes in the front, so I still keep some of those things but also try to sneak in food and fruit as well.
Anyway, I was just going to throw those unwanted plants out, but figured that people might want them.
So I placed a free ad on Craigslist, and the people came to my house in droves! So I started charging $5.00 a wheelbarrow for stuff, and they still came.
I would dig things up when they got to my house. It turned out to be a really fun endeavor because the sort of people that were coming over loved plants, landscaping, and gardening as much as I did, and the conversations were wonderful.
Some even drove over 60 miles to come to my house to get hostas! Hostas are in every other yard in the United States!! On the way to my house, they passed thousands of hostas.
Anyway, this year, my price is $20 per wheelbarrow, and in the first 7 days I made $380.
Here’s the thing…I never did really get rid of those things…I just keep selling the same plants each year, because they grow back!
Here is my ad on Craigslist this year:
The title was, “Hostas, Tiger Lillies, Periwinkle, and other plants for sale”
And I made $100 in one day.
Then I posted it on Facebook Marketplace:
And then it was on like Donkey Kong!
People that were buying from me told me that I wasn’t charging enough!
I had someone buy 4 wheelbarrows full of tiger lilies! (some think these are weeds!!). $80.
Why do people do this? I have asked them, so I’ll tell you:
- They like to come to a real, living landscape, and be able to walk around and select exactly what they want.
- They like knowing that my plants are alive and thriving. Not in a plastic pot in a big box gardening store (that might die when they get them home).
- They like interacting with real people, and maybe even going on a plant road trip
- They love the value. (My partner, Catherine and I were at a gardening center today that we love, but hostas in a 1 gallon pot were $10, as were all of the other 1 gallon perennials. At that price, my wheelbarrow load would cost $100!
So anyway, if you are like me, and you would be out messing around in the garden anyway…….Sell Your Yard!
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