I think of gardening as a great equalizer.  You don't have to be rich to grow beautiful plants and have a great home landscape.  You can fertilize your garden with lots of money or just a little money and a lot of ingenuity.  You can purchase amazing plants from expensive boutique nurseries, or you can create great plant combinations with specimens from your local "big box" store.  Some of the best gardens start on a shoestring.  

Suppose you are a novice gardener.  First you need some basic gardening knowledge.  Between the Internet and your local public library, you can learn everything you need to know without purchasing anything extra.  Most local libraries are part of interlibrary loan networks, so you have easy access to older or less well known books as well as recent garden guides. 

Once you have the knowledge, you need a few basic tools, including a trowel, spade, rake, hoe, watering can, etc.  Shops and catalogs are full of wonderful, expensive models of all those tools, but if you frequent garage or tag sales, you can probably find all of them for only a few dollars.  Discount stores also have excellent inexpensive garden tools, not to mention gloves and hats. 

The cheapest way to get a garden going is to grow plants from seed.  Some can be started indoors on sunny windowsills, but many ornamental and food crops can be sown directly in the ground as soon as all danger of frost is past.  If you are starting plants from seed, choose a mixture of fast-growing annuals like zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers, plus some hardy perennials, which take longer to get established.   Other gardeners are also a great source of free plants.  All you have to do is put the word out among your friends, especially in the spring, and you will find yourself the recipient of divisions of hostas, daylilies, Shasta daisies and other prolific plants.    

When you can afford to buy plants from local, catalog or online nurseries, choose wisely.  While the flashy new plants are always tempting, sometimes it is better to choose tried and true performers if you're on a tight budget.   

Mulch is a great boon to most plants and cuts weeding chores.  If you have friends with pine trees, ask if you can gather the pine straw that accumulates under the trees.  It makes a wonderful soft mulch.  Compost is another good mulch and soil conditioner.  Start a pile in a corner of the garden.  Add organic material and water and turn it daily and you'll have good compost in a couple of months.  If you have room for two piles--one active pile and one "cooking" pile--all the better.

Remember that anything from a yogurt container to an old paint bucket can function as a plant pot. 

In these times when many of us have to think about economizing, it's reassuring to know that you can start or maintain a garden without breaking the bank.  Look around you--everything you need for a great garden is probably close at hand.