To create a whole garden from seeds? Save money on a blank slate

[Sickofthisheat]

Has anyone done it rather than buying plants from a garden centre? I have inherited a medium sized garden , a few trees only 2 perennials. I am going for cottage feel, lots of natives and wanting a natural informal feel. Vegetables etc... Would love some recomendations/ advice and pictures would be wonderful

But not everything grows from seed, you will need bulbs for things like daffodils and bluebells. Perfectly possible to grow bluebells and daffodils from seed,but they will take 3 - 5 years to reach flowering size

If you are a member of the RHS then you can send off for free seeds from their collections which might give you a few more interesting plants. Not actually free. Flat charge of £12 for up to 12 packers.

I have tried to take rosemary cuttings but no sign of anything yet after 2 weeks in water on the window sill Patience!

Are you on any local community groups on Facebook? There might be lots of people in your area who can help out with very reasonable young plants, so it's well worth asking around. Local gardening groups often have brilliant plant sales.

If your garden is big enough then one area I would invest in now is to plant a few fruit and nut trees. You'll reap huge rewards in a few year's time. They have flowers in spring which are great for wildlife and the fruits and nuts are much better than anything you can buy in the shops. Anyone in your area who has a walnut tree probably has a few self-seeded young trees that they will give away for free. In winter you can find bare-rooted trees in shops like Wilkos for around £6. My local Wilkos is selling seeds half price at the moment.

It's also really worth going to local boot fairs - you often see really cheap plants and people sell packets of seeds for as little as 10p. If there is an auction in your area, give them a ring to see if they sell plants. I picked up a beautiful 3m Victoria plum tree for £2.50 at my local auction, and a whole tray of hollyhock plants for £6.

Enjoy your lovely garden!

You might do ok with the cuttings if you google what is easy to grow from cuttings. I’ve pinched a few overhanging into the road at twilight. I used the rooting gel and then vermiculite with some success.

I've never had any luck growing foxgloves from a packet of seeds. But the two or three plants I bought (quite cheaply) over 20 years ago have provided many offspring.

I've also got masses of self seeded forget-me-nots and honesty from a few plants years ago.

Poppies appear any time I dig a flower bed.

Having just been reminded of it on another thread, a Hylotelephium spectabile (aka sedum spectabile) or two is a good investment as they're incredibly easy to propagate. Layer, water cuttings, cuttings straight into soil, whatever.

Wild strawberries make good ground cover as well as being delicious, and can be started from seed

Take any opportunities to get to know keen gardeners, they'll just give you stuff - clumps get too big, something didn't work where they put it, people have surplus they'd prefer not to waste. If you're in Edinburgh I've got stuff potted up you can have and some shrubs I want that were in when we moved here. Welsh poppy seeds and aquilegia seeds. Literally millions of the poppy seeds. Look out for plant sales and the bargain shelf at the garden centre.

Absolutely don't put in wild strawberries! They only fruit for 2 or 3 years, spread like wildfire, and you will be pulling them up for decades to come! Guess how I know....

Plenty of perennials you can grow from seed, and they don't take long to get to flowering size. Lupins, delphiniums, oriental poppies, hellebores, monarda, achillea, primula, dahlias and lots more. Many of them don't even need a greenhouse.

That’s really not a problem. I have wild strawberries (don’t think they’re Alpine because they have runners, but they’ve got slightly larger fruits than out native), Each year I pull up either the outside 8inches of the bed, or the central strip, and mulch. I’ve been getting a good crop for well over 20 years, enough to eat through the season, and I have about 20 boxes in the deepfreeze.

If I want to plant something, I clear a space, otherwise I leave as useful ground cover

If you buy perennials now in garden centres they are often on sale,if you pick carefully you can divide and get ⌨️2 or 3 from one. I also bought a load of plug plant perennials from suttons, 74 for £4.99 or something and potted on.

i also got a lot of divisionS from friends and plant sales/ Facebook. Local garden swap on Facebook.

from seed verbena bonaseiries and guara both came really quickly from seed.

also filled the gaps in the sunny borders by just scattering wildflower seed. It looked spectacular.

Nasturtiums grow like beasts in any conditions imho - bonus is seeds are huge and easy to spot for keeping till spring.

Yes @Supersimkin2 nasturtiums also seem to maintain their original range of colours for years as well.