Gardening newbie - cheap plants?

forgotmyname

You paid for strawberries? I have a ton of them in the garden that need thinning out and tons more on the allotment. I cannot give them away there are so many.

firebird082

Garden centres are generally expensive places - I buy most of my plants online now - there are loads of deals around, especially on plug plants, but also on garden-ready ones at this time of year.

I've found Gardening Express to be a really good source of cheap plants, and they often sell them in multipacks as well.

Waterlily24

forgotmyname wrote: »

You paid for strawberries? I have a ton of them in the garden that need thinning out and tons more on the allotment. I cannot give them away there are so many.

Same here, hubby has just thinned ours out and thrown loads away.

grace68

I would suggest local markets and plant sales. I know where we are both the and Christian aid do plant sales in may, loads of cheap choices. And local growers sell at sales either at community markets and allotment open days.

Grace x

Sagz_2

I've had great success with the shrubs and fruit bushes from Poundland. Their bulbs are also good, but you can sometimes get a better deal in Wilcos.
I spent £25 on seeds and every windowsill and the plastic greenhouse is full of seedlings! Hope it warms up soon or I'll need a machete to get in the bath

rev229

When we moved to this property 15 yrs ago the garden was a blank canvas new build. I bought cheap plants, and ones that were on the clearance trolley. They gave all grown without too much effort. Perhaps I've been lucky. My rescue pittosporum shrub is now a well established tree as are my rescue roses and the other bits I planted.

Owain_Moneysaver

Plug plants are a good compromise between the ready to pot out plants in the garden centre, and growing from seed which can have a high failure rate.

QVC sometimes have good offers and MSE sometimes has a plants or seeds offer - often from Thomson and Morgan - in the weekly email

greensalad

firebird082 wrote: »

Garden centres are generally expensive places - I buy most of my plants online now - there are loads of deals around, especially on plug plants, but also on garden-ready ones at this time of year.

I've found Gardening Express to be a really good source of cheap plants, and they often sell them in multipacks as well.

I've been looking online. Problem is, I work full time so I can't be in for the delivery. I figured even paying for a Saturday delivery would save me money, but I can't find anywhere that offers it.

firebird082

greensalad wrote: »

I've been looking online. Problem is, I work full time so I can't be in for the delivery. I figured even paying for a Saturday delivery would save me money, but I can't find anywhere that offers it.

They leave mine wither on the doorstep (I always ask for this), or failing that with neighbours. I've never had to go and collect from a delivery office. Bit dangerous getting them delivered to work, as the boxes can be extremely big and heavy!

greensalad

firebird082 wrote: »

They leave mine wither on the doorstep (I always ask for this), or failing that with neighbours. I've never had to go and collect from a delivery office. Bit dangerous getting them delivered to work, as the boxes can be extremely big and heavy!

Yep I work in London I'm not sure the other commuters would appreciate me coming home on the train with a small garden!

I've been looking at gardens4you online and they do a pack of 40 perrenials (about 10 varieties) for £22. I know it's a "too good to be true" thing and after looking at their reviews they seem to either be great, or terrible. But for £22 it doesn't seem too bad, and if I pay with PayPal maybe I can get protection if they turn up dead (a reviewer has said they submitted a claim after a poor order was received and they got 100% back), so maybe that is worth a gamble. Most of them are small pots, some are bulbs, and some are bare roots. Good enough to get started with and I won't be sad if I kill them at that price... Also they deliver with DPD who are always good for leaving things on my back porch if asked.

I've also discussed building the path with my partner and he says it's fairly simple. Found on eBay someone selling reclaimed bricks for 50p a piece which seems reasonable given my research. We'd need 50 bricks so not bad moneywise at all. And then we can get a lovely path from the deck to the shed for £30 (bricks + sand).