A Gardeners’ World star has named five types of plants you should get in the ground now to save money on your display next year. In a magazine piece focused on saving gardeners cash, British horticulturist Frances Tophill opened up about the busy autumn season and how it presents an opportunity to save your hard-earned pennies.
She explained that people tend to buy plants and other odds and ends over the summer at garden centres and shows, but with a bit of planning, you can use the cooler season to “claw back” some money. Frances wrote in BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine: “Save money by starting off plants now for next year’s display and remember to protect tender plants from winter weather by bringing them indoors.” She then shared five handy tips to help you save cash, covering everything from spring-flowering bulbs to trees, shrubs and perennial kale. But if you want an eye-catching spring offering, then there’s one section to which you should pay close attention.
Included in the advice about bulbs (which can reportedly be cheaper than buying mature plants) was a list of five varieties you should plant now so you can take full advantage of the cost-saving benefits: tulips, alliums, Dutch irises, crocuses and daffodils.
1. Sweet peas
Frances wrote: “Sow seeds in the warmth now for healthy early flowers next year and keep them in a non-heated greenhouse.”
2. Spring-flowering bulbs
Frances advised us to plant tulips, alliums, Dutch irises, crocuses and daffodils now to ensure we get a “colourful” spring display, adding that we should remember to always plant our bulbs three times their own depth.
3. Hardy perennials
When it comes to perennials, the Gardeners’ World star suggested that we lift and divide them in an effort to “rejuvenate” any that are overcrowded and to provide us with more plants.
4. Trees and shrubs
Frances said: “Propagate these now by inserting hardwood cuttings in a propagation bed outside for the whole winter. Hazel, elder and willow work really well.”
5. Perennial kale
Finally, the green-fingered presenter noted that this “tasty” edible can live between three and five years, and more plants can be produced by taking cuttings and growing them in soil or pots of compost
Another cost-saving measure you can try this season is saving your summer bulbs. According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), you can dig up summer-flowering bulbs before they die back and store them cool and reasonably dry over winter.
You can then plant them the following spring, a method that works for varieties such as begonia, dahlias, freesia, gladiolus, acidanthera, babiana and ornithogalum
In a similar vein, you can also collect seeds from garden plants before the weather conditions lead to rot. The RHS noted that seeds mature around two months after they flower, so summer-flowering types can be most fruitful.
Among them are sunflowers, helenium, rudbeckia, salvia and a number of others. In addition, you can also use seeds from climbers and shrubs such as Leycesteria formosa, brooms, and Abutilon vitifolium.
