Frugal Gardening?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Tell me what you know.

Grow from seed
Use toilet rolls or newspaper to make paper pots
Compost your own veg trimmings
Collect the free bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks, coffee#1 etc to go in the compost

Will think of mode......

Mode = more

I used egg boxes for my herbs.

Never google "how to propagate herbs", its not that kind of herb.

Growing from seed and propagating are the obvious ones. Splitting perennials, swapping with neighbours.

We had loads of self sown aquilegia when we moved in. We dug up some and swapped with friends for other plants, and moved some others so they are in clumps etc.

Tomato plant pinching outs make good extra plants

We have a second gen rosemary bush, took the last live branch off a dying plant, plunged in soil, 4 years later nice new big healthy plant.

Definitely grow from seed. You can usually buy seeds v cheaply at the end of the season to grow for next year...although they can be hit and miss as to whether they germinate!
Keep your eye out for free seeds too. I got some tomato seeds from Heinz one year.
Check out the reduced shelf at the garden centre. You can sometimes get good bargains on plants that are past their best, but with a care can flourish.

Make your own compost.

Take soft cuttings in the spring, grow these on for later in the summer.
Collect fallen hazel, birch, willow etc branches and plait these together, make into any frame shape you like for plant supports - this works best on wet wood as dry will be too brittle.
Buy one potted perennial, you can usually split this at least twice.
Shop around for plants, the GC's can be pricier than local nurseries.
For summer planting buy plug plants when they're available (and be warned, these go fast!), grow on for the summer.
Bulk buy compost or soil improver if you can, much cheaper. Alternately, make your own compost, and a country drive through horsey areas will almost certainly yield free horse manure (note that free manure must be composted before going near plants).
More when I remember!

Buy trays of 'Lining Lettuce' from supermarkets. They contain hundreds of individual lettuce plants. Repot them and keep in a sheltered place (greenhouse/bright room). Cheaper than a packet of lettuce seeds and the hassle of germinating them in cold weather.

They also tend to be cut and come again. After we have used most of the leaves we leave the trays to regrow and they often do.

Same with herb plants. The supermarket ones are not one big plant, but comprise many juvenile ones. They do better if repotted.

Living lettuce not 'lining lettuce'.

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