small garden help

ormus

ive got 2 very small gardens (front and rear) and no money.
so how can i plant some free flowers etc? where can i steal them from?
bear in mind i want to show the 3 young grandkids how to plant etc and see the plants grow into flowers.

front garden is just the 2 edges, cause the main part is slabbed.
rear is a small raised garden about 6ftx3ft, the rest is patio.
some pots would be nice too, i think?

Penelope_Penguin

Try Freecycle. I've had lots of plants to divide this year and have given lots away.

I hesitate to advertise the Seed Exchange, as there are a few things about it that I disagree with, but this is a good way to get someone else's excess seeds for free or the price of a stamp. It's a Yahoo group, and there's a thread on this board about it.

HTH, Penny. x

Plum_Pie

Definitely Freecycle. There are lots of veg and flower plants and pots going on my local one currently!

ormus

thx. will try my local freecycle group.
i was wanting/needing more of an instant garden rather than waiting for seeds to grow. i know seeds are fairly cheap.
any ideas of what to plant? the front garden faces north, and the rear garden is very sheltered and a suntrap in the afternoon.

Plum_Pie

If you see any plants offered on Freecycle, google them before you accept them, for growing conditions so you'll know where to plant them.

There was a thread a few days ago about veg that grow well in the shade and someone posted on it about 6 flowering plants that are also shade-lovers (for your front garden).

You might also be able to ask any neighbours/local friends if you can scrounge a cutting or two from any nice-looking shrubs they have. They may be happy to give away if they're pruning the plant anyway. Someone else on the board wrote that passersby are always stealing little bits from their front garden...probably better to ask first....!

ormus

many thx for the advice.
i remember now my auntie was always visiting famous/public gardens.
then she told me that she had scissors in her handbag and used to take cuttings everywhere. she had a lovely garden, inc free plants from some very famous houses indeed!

Gingham_Ribbon

I have a sheltered north facing yard that catches full sun much of the summer but is otherwise shaded. Acid loving plants that do well there are the hydrangia, rhodendendron, azelia and pieris. I used ericacious compost for them. The bit that is almost always in shade is doing less well but the 'jack frost' is beautiful and doing very well. I had to move the sun dance to the other side where it's getting more sun.

These are the border flowers that did well last year:

Antirrhinum: Early dwarf snapdragon.
Alyssum: Tiny white or purple flowers that smell strongly of honey. Geranium
Verbena: Starting to flower. Lovely deep pink colour
Brachycome: Bright blue daisies. Can't say how pretty these are
Violas - these self seeded and are growing again in a different part of the yard.

The daisies have started flowering again this year. I'm going to get some more of them. They trail though so would be best higher up I think.

The BBC gardening section has a fantastic search engine where you put in what type of soil, shelter etc you have and it comes up with a huge list of suitable plants.

Gingham_Ribbon

ormus wrote: »

many thx for the advice.
i remember now my auntie was always visiting famous/public gardens.
then she told me that she had scissors in her handbag and used to take cuttings everywhere. she had a lovely garden, inc free plants from some very famous houses indeed!

:eek: I imagine she'd have got run off there pretty sharpish if she was caught.

margaretclare

There are free seeds on cereal packets as part of the 'Britain in Bloom' campaign.

Margaret

furndire

My dad used to go the same!!!!! One I particularly remember was what he called a "shrimp" plant from Rhyll floral hall ~ he had it growing for 20 years or so, and was very proud of it!!!