Tariff- and Inflation-Proof Yourself
Save money, support your community, and keep your spirits up in tumultuous times.
Inflation in the cost of living is always a concern. But it was particularly challenging through the post-pandemic economic recovery in Canada and around the world. Then, just as the rate of inflation was subsiding to the more sustainable target level, geopolitical tensions in early 2025 have threatened to upend our household budgets once again with tariffs and counter-tariffs.
With increasing economic uncertainty, now is the time to take control of your spending, strategize on how to save money, support local businesses and your community, and invest in your own well-being. Here are some ideas for navigating tumultuous economic and political times while keeping your spirits high.
Grow Your Own Food
Imported fruits and vegetables from the US could be hit with a 25% counter tariff. Even when tariffs are not a threat, currency fluctuations can often noticeably increase the price of imported produce. The more you can grow your own food, the more you can protect yourself from inflation and save money. You’ll also be eating healthier produce and reducing your carbon footprint. Planting annual vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and potatoes plus annual and perennial herbs will pay dividends this season. Planting berry bushes and fruit trees is also a good idea. They may not provide a lot of produce in their first season but they will help insulate you in the future from inflation and price shocks at the supermarket, even if the tariff threat eventually subsides.
Few gardeners can grow all their own fruit and veggies so when you need to do some shopping, consider buying direct from local or regional farmers at farmers markets or at fruit and veggie stands that carry local produce. The money you spend will stay close to home. You’ll be supporting your local community and helping to enhance food security.
Grow your own food and enjoy the fruits of your labours!
Take Care of Your Mental Health and Well-Being
Even at the best of times, life can be stressful. When geopolitics goes haywire, additional stress can feel too much to bear especially since there’s often little each of us can do to change things. Here’s a way to cope: get off your news apps and go play in the garden! Turn your garden into a refuge by making it a more beautiful and relaxing place where you can embrace the healing opportunities that plants and nature provide. Gardening has been shown to increase flexibility, balance, and strength, contribute to heart health, reduce stress, and improve your mental health. So make some big plans for your garden this season whether that be in the veggie garden or your ornamental spaces and have a great time amongst your flowers.
Go play in your garden and maybe host a garden party!
Engage in (Botanical) Retail Therapy
We all might have to tighten our belts and watch our wallets with increased costs coming our way. So it might not be the time to make big spending decisions. But you can always justify a few little plants to lift your spirits. They say in a recession that lipstick and movie theatre box office sales go up because these are relatively cheap and cheerful things you can do for yourself to have a little fun and make yourself feel better. If you’re a gardener, then you know that even just one little plant can go a long way to turning your frown upside down!
Plan for a Staycation or a Canadian Vacation
With your increasingly beautiful garden, you might not want to leave home. Plan for a staycation where you get to relax in your garden and do some touristy things around your town or city that you might not usually think of doing. Or go on a vacation in your region, in your province, or elsewhere in Canada. If your plans include the Vancouver area, we’d love to see you at Phoenix Perennials. It’s a beautiful place to unwind and explore the fascinating world of plants.
Buy Canadian
You’re already doing it, but keep paying attention to where your purchases come from and buy as many products that are “Product of Canada” or “Made in Canada” as you can from Canadian-owned businesses. Since we grow most of our own plants at Phoenix Perennials and prioritize buying local first, most of our offerings fall into these categories. Plus we are a locally owned business that employs more than 30 of your neighbours each year. At Phoenix, we’re also working to shift our buying and, with a little sleuthing, have even found cheaper and better options right here in Canada. So let’s keep working on keeping our dollars supporting our local, provincial, and national economies!
Place Your Orders Early for Guaranteed Prices
We grow most of our own plants and buy preferentially from Canadian suppliers. But some plants and inputs come from the US as there are no other sources and these may become subject to counter tariffs. Also, the volatile situation for the Canadian dollar means that some imports from other countries might also become more costly if our dollar weakens. Even in non-tariff times, sometimes currency swings mean that prices have to increase mid season. However, if you place an order in advance, we will honour our commitment to you with no price increases on your order. But extra plants available in the nursery after pre-orders are filled could be priced a little higher. So get your orders in, fellow gardeners!
One of my favourite movie quotes comes from “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”: “Everything will be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, then it’s not yet the end.” While we’re waiting for everything to be alright, fellow gardeners, we hope you can use some of our tips and tricks to get through these tumultuous times with grace and greater sense of calm and, of course, more veggies, fruits, and flowers!
Give Your Garden the Phoenix Perennials Touch:
At Phoenix Perennials, we offer over 6,000 unique plants each year for in-person shopping at our garden centre in Richmond, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver. We also take online orders and ship more than 3,000 different plants a year across Canada via mail order. Stay up-to-date with our wide variety of offerings and all things Phoenix Perennials by signing up for our E-Newsletter and Alerts, and connecting with us on social media. Happy gardening!
