If your a smoker its two packets of cigarettes. Well thats how I put it to my husband when we head to the garden centre again and again. Head to the boot sales or get blethering to a neighbour with a nice garden I bet they would be more than happy to give you plants
Pash, be aware that although these deals are cheap you may not get your plants for a long time. I ordered some trailing begonias from T&M in April. The order confirmation told me they would be dispatched by end of May. It's now 8 June and their latest dispatch estimate is "a couple of weeks due to weather". I had always believed that plug plants were grown in commercial greenhouses, but obviously not!
The petunia is really a perennial plat although we treat it as a summer bedder. Try taking some cuttings from non flowering tips, pot up 5 or so around the edge of a 3 inch pot, water and cover with a plastic bag untl they have rooted and bingo, you'll have even better value for your pounds. Same applies to the fuschias. If you have too many cutting that strike then give them away to friends
See if your local area has a gardening club. Most areas that have allotments will also have gardening clubs, barring that, try local school fairs for garden bargains, ebay is a good place to find tools (be wary of buying used, they could be nicked from someone's shed), and I have had some seed bargains from ebay (60 assorted packets for around £12, some out of date, but if the packet is unopened, most will normally still germinate).
What you need to look for are perennials - these come up and flower every year, some are where the plant itself survives the winter, others are where the plant self-seeds, so will come up again next year. If you're not sure, google the plant name, that's saved me some expensive mistakes! Things that grow from bulbs or corms will normally come up every year, make sure you give them a good feed at least once a week (twice is better), and when you plant bulbs or corms, put a bit of grit or sharp sand around them, this helps keeps slugs away, as slugs will quite happily munch bulbs if they can get to them. Hope this helps.
I HATE slugs. They come into my garden and have a party, if slugs don't get my seedlings, then the flipping birds do (the birds make me laugh, though, so are forgiven, especially the blackbirds that are nesting in the rowan tree at the bottom of the garden). The male blackbird always tells me off when I'm at the bottom of the garden pottering. Slugs will eat anything, so it may well be them that have scoffed them, or they could have rotted away if they're waterlogged. So my bulbs always go into sharp sand or grit (when I can get hold of it), it ensures they don't get waterlogged & rot, and the slugs don't like the scratchiness - same as protecting seedlings with crushed-up eggshells. Would love a hedgehog to move in, It would soon be too fat to move very far!
Id love a hedgehog to move in too but dont know what our two wee terriers would say! I have a black bird in our garden who scatters the bark all over the grass but as you say you can forgive him but a slug no chance..I will try Alliums again and will use grit and sand thanks for that tip Julie, I do love Alliums
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If your a smoker its two packets of cigarettes. Well thats how I put it to my husband when we head to the garden centre again and again. Head to the boot sales or get blethering to a neighbour with a nice garden I bet they would be more than happy to give you plants
thank you all
Pash, be aware that although these deals are cheap you may not get your plants for a long time. I ordered some trailing begonias from T&M in April. The order confirmation told me they would be dispatched by end of May. It's now 8 June and their latest dispatch estimate is "a couple of weeks due to weather". I had always believed that plug plants were grown in commercial greenhouses, but obviously not!
The petunia is really a perennial plat although we treat it as a summer bedder. Try taking some cuttings from non flowering tips, pot up 5 or so around the edge of a 3 inch pot, water and cover with a plastic bag untl they have rooted and bingo, you'll have even better value for your pounds. Same applies to the fuschias. If you have too many cutting that strike then give them away to friends
Gazani's also can be over winter and have great show of colour each year. One of my favourate flowers in the garden
See if your local area has a gardening club. Most areas that have allotments will also have gardening clubs, barring that, try local school fairs for garden bargains, ebay is a good place to find tools (be wary of buying used, they could be nicked from someone's shed), and I have had some seed bargains from ebay (60 assorted packets for around £12, some out of date, but if the packet is unopened, most will normally still germinate).
What you need to look for are perennials - these come up and flower every year, some are where the plant itself survives the winter, others are where the plant self-seeds, so will come up again next year. If you're not sure, google the plant name, that's saved me some expensive mistakes! Things that grow from bulbs or corms will normally come up every year, make sure you give them a good feed at least once a week (twice is better), and when you plant bulbs or corms, put a bit of grit or sharp sand around them, this helps keeps slugs away, as slugs will quite happily munch bulbs if they can get to them. Hope this helps.
Thanks for that i wish i knew about the sand two weeks ago when i planted 40 bulbs from aldi for 29pence
Would slugs have eaten my allium bulbs? I will remember that tip for bulbs thanks julie
I HATE slugs. They come into my garden and have a party, if slugs don't get my seedlings, then the flipping birds do (the birds make me laugh, though, so are forgiven, especially the blackbirds that are nesting in the rowan tree at the bottom of the garden). The male blackbird always tells me off when I'm at the bottom of the garden pottering. Slugs will eat anything, so it may well be them that have scoffed them, or they could have rotted away if they're waterlogged. So my bulbs always go into sharp sand or grit (when I can get hold of it), it ensures they don't get waterlogged & rot, and the slugs don't like the scratchiness - same as protecting seedlings with crushed-up eggshells. Would love a hedgehog to move in, It would soon be too fat to move very far!
Id love a hedgehog to move in too but dont know what our two wee terriers would say! I have a black bird in our garden who scatters the bark all over the grass but as you say you can forgive him but a slug no chance..I will try Alliums again and will use grit and sand thanks for that tip Julie, I do love Alliums