The Best Garden Plants Come from Backyard Plant Sales

One of my favorite parts of the home I grew up in was the backyard, which was the perfect mix of lawn (necessary for summer slip ‘n’ slides and games of catch) and garden beds that were filled with evergreens, shrubs, and lots of flowers. I knew my mom put a lot of time into planting and maintaining the garden beds, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized just how much work that all took.

Puttering in my own yard gave me a newfound appreciation for my mom’s efforts — and for her bargain-spotting capabilities. Her favorite secret source for low-cost plants with big payoff? Local backyard plant sales.

Depending on where you live, you might not be familiar with backyard plant sales, so here’s a rundown: These sales function much like garage sales, with plant-loving hobbyists digging up and dividing successful plants from their own gardens to sell to others. You can find the sales listed anywhere garage sales might be, like Craigslist, your local paper, Facebook Marketplace, neighborhood listservs, and more. (My mom often finds them by word of mouth or, by chance, after driving by the signage.)

Here’s why these sales are my mom’s favorite secret source for plants — and why it’s her own golden rule to stop by if she sees one.

There are lots of advantages to shopping backyard plant sales over garden centers or nurseries (though those are still great sources, too).

Any time you buy locally grown plants, my mom says, you know that they are compatible with your particular climate. But the extra benefit of buying a plant from a backyard plant sale is that you know that plant has survived winter and summer in the ground — and has been successful enough that it can be safely divided for sale.

Nurseries and big-box stores can both have knowledgeable staff, but you’re unlikely to speak to someone who has planted every single thing that’s on offer. But at a backyard plant sale, the person who’s doing the selling is also usually the person who did the growing, so you can learn a lot by chatting with them.

“A person who does a plant sale is usually really passionate about plants,” my mom says. “When you go and talk to people who love plants, they tell you more about caring for them than just what’s on the tag. The tag might say part sun, but the person who’s grown the plant might say it likes morning sun, or don’t put it in the wind. They have lots of tips and tricks.”

Not all plant sales have bargain-priced plants, but many do. My mom says she can often find healthy, sizable plants for about $10 to $15 (the same ones are often $20 and up at garden centers). Even better, “I’m getting good dark dirt with those plants,” she says, since the plants are often dug up from thriving garden beds.

When you buy from someone’s yard, you might see other plants of theirs that you love. It’s always OK to ask if they’re willing to sell you a cutting from that plant, too — some gardeners might turn you down, but others are happy to make a deal.

At a nursery, you only see the plants in the containers they’re sold in, but buying from a backyard means you can likely see the plant as it actually looks in the ground. Peeking into a gardener’s space can give you lots of ideas for what plants to group together and how they might look after a season or two of growing.

Decorating your living room over time gives you the opportunity to select pieces with meaning. My mom takes the same approach with her garden. “I love love love looking at plants and having a memory versus just going into a store and buying them all at once,” she says. “I love having a memory of what I was doing when I got the plant, whether it was with a friend or on a special trip. It’s like having a scrapbook in my yard.”

Have you ever shopped a backyard plant sale? What are some of your other favorite sources for plants? Let me know in the comments!