Low cost gardening tips please?

[stirling]

Hello,

OK I've been gardening for 4 years now. Complete novice, making it up as I went along! Now some of my Hardy perennials are definitely dead and dried up and not looking like they're coming back. Need to replace several plant (containers) and actually, some of the vile plastic containers too. Went to the local garden centre, picked up a few plants, a bag of compost and some fertiliser it came to a staggering £80.

Where is the cheapest place to buy plants and clay pots?
I have packs of seeds but no idea what I'm doing with those, so feel safer with potting plants and herbs for now.

Thank you

@Letseatgrandma

Thank you for the Lupin seedlings advice! Can I put a couple in each one bigger pot or do they need their own pots? I only have a little windowsill

Yes, they will need their own pot in a few weeks as they should get to at least 20-30 cm this year. You can carry on growing them outside in pots for a while before putting them in the ground; they are quite hardy.

@Octopuscrazy

Also what does it mean to divide a plant? It sounds like you just split it in half? Would that not kill it?

Sometimes the root gets damaged and the plant does die but not usually. For a while both the reduced plant and the off-cut might look a bit sad, but if they do survive they recover within a year or so. It depends on the plant when it's best time of year to split them. Some plants such as irises or geraniums have to be split regularly because they grow too big and not as nicely otherwise.

Can I ask a dumb question? How do you grow things from cuttings?
It's not a dumb question. Cuttings don't work for all plants and for those it does then it depends on the plant, the time of year, etc, etc.
A cheat's answer is go to the RHS website and look up a plant and it will give the answer for that plant. For example, if you look up Lavender it will tell you that you can take soft-wood, semi-ripe or hard-wood cuttings, depending on the time of year.

@Octopuscrazy

Also what does it mean to divide a plant? It sounds like you just split it in half? Would that not kill it?

Think of it like separating Siamese twins rather than Solomon cutting a baby in half! Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind - giving an old, complacent plant a jolt, like dividing it, can spur it into new, vigorous growth. Obviously, you want to make sure that you cut so that you have some root attached to both halves,

Lidl, Aldi etc have special buys keep an eye on their websites. Other supermarkets too. Look for plants outside houses with honesty boxes selling to raise money for charity. Second hand pots perhaps

@Lovemusic33

My grandparents were pretty tight 🤣🤣, they literally had a garden full of very rare plants, they even took cuttings when abroad on holiday (Canada etc..) as well as all the local national trust places. I have to admit that it’s kind of rubbed off on me and last year i successfully grew some ferns which I got from the local woods.

The lupins will probably need to go into bigger pots for a bit before planting outside, I have planted 3 bigger ones in my garden and the ones I grow from seed will hopefully go out later in the year (I’m not expecting much from them this year).

Love music, if you like plants, which you clearly do, please don’t take them from the wild, or steal “cuttings” from places like the National Trust. First of all it is illegal to take plants from the wild, and most National Trust places have garden stalls where you can buy plants. If you can afford to go to NT properties you can afford to buy a plant.

I was horrified a few years ago to visit the Beth Chatto gardens, which were her private gardens as well as the show case for her nursery, and I came upon a group of respectable looking middle aged women armed with small trowels digging up plants . I think the police call it “going equipped” when burglars have tools to help with their theft. I didn’t shop them to the Chatto staff but did point out that the plants they were stealing were available to buy not twenty yards away.

Years ago it was thought Ok to take birds eggs to collect, but now people understand why it isn’t. I wish the same sense applied to plant thieves.

Most gardeners will happily give cuttings, it have plants that need divided. I took hydrangea and lilac cuttings last year. Quite a few as I didn’t know of they’d take. I don’t need 6 lilac bushes and 8 new hydrangeas so I’ve been finding them homes.

Container gardening is expensive. You need to refresh compost. I’d tip out half each year and replenish tubs rather than all new compost for bulbs and things. Long realease food in tubs helps.

Paying your tubs or put the manlier ones behind nicer ones. Cheap clay pots don’t last long. Anything you can drill holes in the bottom of can be a container.

Keep an eye on local auctions and Facebook for tubs, and free plants. I joined a local gardeners Facebook page and there’s lots of seed swaps and people giving away strawberry runners.

Read the back of the packet and sow the seeds.

Watch YouTube videos.

Plant sedums and succulents.

Search online for flower seeds. There are a few UK suppliers who also sell plant plugs, that are very small plants in trays. They usually work out about 25p each. Or buy plants at school fetes, or learn how to take cuttings. Seeds can be easy too. Try some nigella seeds, very easy, just scatter them in the garden and forget about them.

Try building a compost heap or getting one of the brown plastic ones if you have a small garden. All the weeds from this year will turn into compost for next year.

Decent pots are expensive though, I've not found a cheap alternative yet

As everyone else has said, seeds, cuttings and swapping with friends are all great ways of growing things for very little. Make compost and leaf mould but you'll still need to buy more

You can also make containers out of all sorts of household objects and even compost bags turned inside out with holes punched in them. Disguise the pots with paint or enclose with sacking.

Finding nice looking pots is the most expensive thing. You can cast them out of concrete I think but I've never tried it. And people make all sorts of planters and raised beds out of old pallets. Make paths and edging from old bricks set on sand (I've done this, it's easy).

Sometimes it is worth paying more for a larger plant that can be divided into several smaller ones. This works well with creeping plants, hostas, some campanulas and crainsbill geraniums.

@Octopuscrazy

Some great tips on here. Can I ask a dumb question? How do you grow things from cuttings?

You can take cuttings from different plants ar different times of the year. They are generally known as softwood cuttings and hardwood cuttings. It sounds difficult, but is really quite easy. However, there is a process. It’s best to watch YouTube videos of Monty Don explaining how to go about it. He’s excellent. It’s too early to take any at the moment. When you do have a go take more than you want because often some will not grow roots and it can be a bit disappointing, but it happens to everyone.

Thanks @cazinge much appreciated!

@aquamarine1Thompson & Morgan have a 72 plug plant perennial collection for £17. Absolute bargain.
www.thompson-morgan.com/p/best-value-perennial-collection/WKC0440TM?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=(6.3)PRO30[SET][typ:CNV][fun:HOT][opt:PUR][id:23846134197360358]&utm_term=72PERENNIALS[cd:TM_TN2118W]&utm_campaign=(6.3)[CAM][typ:CNV][fun:HOT][id:23845422367280358]

Sorry! It's a Facebook offer for £17. Normally £24 but still cheap!
@aquamarine1

brilliant, im going to try composting , the edging from old bricks (have some somewhere) and those plug plants if its not too late to plant them.
Had a few failed attempts at growing from cuttings but good advice above.

Any particular climbers that are especially easy to grow quickly? Got two ghastly walls to disguise...

thanks again all

if you like plants, which you clearly do, please don’t take them from the wild, or steal “cuttings” from places like the National Trust. First of all it is illegal to take plants from the wild, and most National Trust places have garden stalls where you can buy plants. If you can afford to go to NT properties you can afford to buy a plant

I was horrified a few years ago to visit the Beth Chatto gardens, which were her private gardens as well as the show case for her nursery, and I came upon a group of respectable looking middle aged women armed with small trowels digging up plants
I can’t believe you are comparing a cutting to actually digging up a plant.
The two are not comparable at all!

A cutting is a small stem, only a few inches long.
Nobody would even notice it’s gone and the plant won’t suffer in any way at all.

Digging up someone else’s plant or a plant from the wild is absolutely disgusting and worlds apart from taking a tiny cutting.

Just to add that I don’t take cuttings from national trust properties, I did take a baby fern from the local woods, from a area that was about to be cleared. When my grandparents used to take cuttings national trust were not as strict as they are now and your were allowed to do it, now you are not (it was 30 years ago), they took cuttings from various places they went on holiday. I don’t think taking a cutting is going to cause damage but obviously if everyone took a cutting from the same plant it could.

A large house near me has a beautiful pink climbing rose against a wall. I'd never plucked up the courage to walk up the (very long) drive and ask if I could take cuttings.

Then in Feb I passed and they're pruned their rose and left bits on the verge . I've now got seven rooted cuttings in the greenhouse. Two for me, two for swaps, three for the school fete.

1. Clay pots - use a plastic pot inside to hold the plant. If you forget to bring the clay pot inside over winter, then the plastic pot contents will freeze/expand, rather than the clay pot.

1. Bubble wrap pots/plants over winter.

1. Can you plant into the ground, rather than pots? Saves watering hassle & cost of pot. I’ve lifted some random slabs on the patio to do this.

1. Are you sure the plants were hardy?

1. Check the plant matches the soil. Add drainage. Leave plenty of room at the top to water well.

1. Don’t bother with box. Blight or caterpillars are coming to you sooner or later. ^^. There are some excellent alternatives inc, Christmas Box (not a box!), yew and different types of hebes.

I had 2 empty raised beds last year. Bought a 99p box of wildflower seeds from B&M and literally just chucked them around. I had a succession of flowers all summer and it meant the garden looked lovely while I plan out shrubs/perennials etc. It's definitely a 'cottage garden' look so won't work if you like things neatly planned but it did brighten up a dull garden

also, you can paint terracotta pots very easily, but also plastic pots if you use the right stuff (plenty of suggestions on youtube). I've also used old pallets and stapled weed membrane inside and then planted them. they lasted for a good 3/4 years and again looked lovely