Welcome to the Greenfingered MoneySaving Board!

Primrose

bernice - I think you have to be a member of the Royal Horticultural Society to get cheaper tickets. Unless you know somebody who is a member who doesn't want to use their own allocation it might be difficult. Have you Googled Hampton Court Flower show to see if there's a website which might offer reduced prices for tickets ordered in advance?.

bernice_2

primrose.;)
thanks for that i will have a look:T

Smoffi

I have just used raised beds and I was fortunate to have builders kocking down a brick shed and they let me have all the spare bricks...

I thought about building it properly with mortar and stuff but when I stacked them up to see how it would look the rough look was far more interesting to look at...
Also they dont rot over the years

chimp_choker

nimbo wrote: »

you lucky so and so...

the wait where i am is HUGE... (been on the list 2 years:()

If you want to get into the allotment scene then why not take a walk round the allotments near you often, at least twice a week and talk to the gardeners you see. Let them know you are looking for " a partner" and ask if they know of anyone who could do with some help. The word soon goes round that there is "free" help available and then ask the plot holders if in return for some help you can have a bit of their allotment for yourself.
Make sure it's a one off offer of help or they will have you "helping" for free all the time. When the rent is due again next year offer up the idea of going halves for half the plot. If you look for older people this works easier than helping younger more dit people.
If it works out between now and the rent being due ask if you can be an "official partner" as this can get you known to the council bods and if like our area of the country if you are a bona fida "partner" for more than a year if the original tennent gives up then the partner has first shout on the plot...

Just a thought.

Strophe

Does the Greenfingered Board still exist! I'm a pretty inexperienced town gardener and looking for ways to save cash - who isn't at the moment . IN particular does anyone know of (old style
subsitutes for expensive gandening procuts like plant foods , pest control . I know the basics about compost and growmore and a bit about soil types but I'm sure there are gardeneres out there who've got severallifetimes experience so I'd be really grateful for any advice . Many thanks Strophe

Strophe

Just realised after my newbie post that the greenfingers borad does exists - I just didnt see the recent threads . Looks terrific -love the advice on weed control, and raised beds etc -never thought of scaffolding boards!!!

Strophe

Just realised after my newbie post that the greenfingers borad does exists - I just didnt see the recent threads . Looks terrific -love the advice on weed control, and raised beds etc -never thought of scaffolding boards!!!

chimp_choker

Strophe wrote: »

Just realised after my newbie post that the greenfingers borad does exists - I just didnt see the recent threads . Looks terrific -love the advice on weed control, and raised beds etc -never thought of scaffolding boards!!!

Hi,

Be aware that scaffolding boards are good but they are not cheap. If you want to use these get a list of scaffold companies in your area and ring them all asking for the price of scaffold boards in the lengths they have / you want. Make sure you get a + vat quote as they often miss off the vat as they are dealing with other scaffolding businesses and it might be worth asking for a delivery charge then proportion that up per board to get a final price for each board.

You can then haggle for the cost to come down but also tell them what you want them for as they might have some damaged ones such as split boards or boards without the end banding on. These are no good for H&SE reasons but are good for gardens.

Then have a look at a timber merchants or builders merchants and get a quote for tanalised timber. I now have my raised beds made out of 8"x2" tanalised timber and this is good for 20 years. I got 11 x 4.8m boards for about £140 which I know is a lot but it was cheaper than the same scaffold boards and it was thicker and rot proofed so will save a lot of money in the long run. Also so far this year I've had more than £200 worth of veg and fruit out of the deep beds so if like me you need to save up it's worth looking deep [sorry] into the source of your beds.

As for cheap plant food, research the use of seaweed, comfrey and nettle. These all have the full range of major NPK nutrients but also have a massive amount of trace ellements.

HTH

Busybody

My pond is full of that green weed that looks like cress!! How can I get rid of it?

Primrose

Busybody - it spreads rapidly and the best way is just to get a fishing net and skim it around the surface of the water, removing as much as you can.