(photo: Thrifty NW Mom)

It's time to roll up your sleeves, get your gardening face on and head to your own yard or maybe even your kitchen. But...what if you have no clue on where to start or what to do? Is there a book on gardening for dummies? I'm sure there are, but no need to spend more money than you have to.

If you're a newbie like myself, you might make the mistake of spending a ton of money to get all your gardening materials and then being overwhelmed. Like anything, you want to take it step-by-step and try to take on a smaller project that's not going to break the bank.

Here are 5 ways to garden on a budget:

Gardening 101: The basics

Are you a newbie? Or do you need a refresher course on gardening? You must check out Gardening 101 by Merissa from Little House Living. She takes you through the step-by-step process from setting up a garden to gardening on a budget.

Start seeds indoor on a budget

You don't need a garden to start seeds. You can start them indoors a few weeks before they're suppose to be planted outdoors. In order to keep costs down, you can use your saved up egg carton, yogurt carton and milk jug to get the process started. According to Christina from Northern Cheapskate, starting seeds indoors should cost little or no money. If you're a newbie, this is probably the first step to gardening that's not going to scare you.

Reuse old items to make garden art

Did you ever go to a botanical garden or some garden at a museum and thought, "wow, how did they do that?" I've done that many times, but never pursued the thought of doing it in my own garden because I was completely intimidated. Sia from Thrifty NW Mom shows us how to reuse old shoes for garden art. This is easy for all level of gardeners and since you're reusing things you already have, it costs very little to do.

Grow your own avocado tree from a seed

I love avocados! The thought of having my own avocado tree makes me smile considering the fact that I eat 2 whole avocados a day. With the advice of Brittany from The Prudent Patron, you can now grow your own avocado tree with the seed leftover from your eaten avocado.

Frugal solutions to protect your garden

Now that you've worked so hard to garden, you need to protect those flowers from staying in your garden and keep growing and thriving. Rather than buying products that help keep the animals at bay, Alea from Premeditated Leftovers shares with us her frugal rabbit deterrents that won't cost too much and will still get the job done.

Gardening can be lots of fun as long as you don't overwhelm yourself. It can be a great way to spend time with your family. Once I'm more confident with my gardening skills, I'll be trying to make the Sweetpea TeePea shown on Saving Dollars and Sense. Happy gardening!

(Source: Savings.com)