Gardening on a Shoestring



Erysium cutting

 It is a matter of pride and principal that I spend as little money as possible on my garden.  Growing most of my plants from seed, taking cuttings, and splitting plants to increase my stock.

The Erysium (Perennial Wallflower) pictured above is a cutting, one of three, that I took from the parent plant as soon as I bought it. Already I have increased my plants, fourfold, from just one.  There is no magic formula for taking cuttings, just snip off a healthy shoot and pop it into potting compost, put a pop bottle (cut in two) over the top, until it makes root, and bingo a plant for free.

So far I have taken Lavender, Argyranthemum. Pelargonium and Dianthus cuttings, as a safeguard, just in case they don't make it through the winter.

This is a good time of year to start increasing your plant stocks and also for a little forward planning; sowing hardy annuals and saving seed from this years plants.  I am sure that you, like me, spend far more money than we intend to keep our gardens beautiful, but with a little work, you can keep the costs right down.