[doganjo]

Where are you? Join your local smallholders association. Cssa will have a seed/plant exchange at our next indoor meeting. Our next meeting is a farm walk at Dan and rosemary's.

[gardenjeannie]

I'm nr Ayr, but carless at mo.  Is there a local group?

[gardenjeannie]

And what is Cssa?

[doganjo]

Sorry, Central Scotland Smallholders Association.  Don't know about Ayr, you'd have to  google

[gardenjeannie]

Thanks, will do.

[waddy]

Watch out for supermarket flower buckets. They are often given away for free (my local Morrisons does this) and with a few drainage holes drilled they are brilliant for growing all sorts of things; especially tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc. The bottoms can also be cut off for ring culture. As we are in the process of moving I have many of these full of divisions from plants in my old garden. When doing the dividing I also gave lots of the extra plants away. I also saved seeds from everything I could including from supermarket buys such as squash, peppers and others. Giving plants away often results in plants, seeds and cuttings in return. Free gardening I think is far more satisfying than spending a fortune at garden centres.


Helen

[happygolucky]

Just remembered I got a load of local plants that were up for grabs on Freecycle, or freegle, where people get rid of plants they do not want or split ones that have over grown!!!.
 

[doganjo]

Just remembered I got a load of local plants that were up for grabs on Freecycle, or freegle, where people get rid of plants they do not want or split ones that have over grown!!!.

And it's a great way of making new friends - I exchanged eggs for plants with a lady  about 10 minutes from me, and we now walk our dogs together, and go for lunch.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

My top money saving tips,
Buy or make a paper potter and sow your seeds in them not only arw the pots free as they are made from old magazines and newspapers but you can plant them sraight into a larger pot or the ground as they grow.
Set up a plant swap in your area and exchange seeds, cuttings and plants that need dividing up.
Contact your local parks and countryside department to find out when they are selling off surplus plants or clearing beds.
Use sheep fleece to protect frost sensitive plants.
lift and divide up prolific plants to swap and spread around the garden.
Ask your garden centre or market trader to do you a good price on any that at are wilting for lack of a little water and some tlc. 
Ask neighbours with invasive plants like pampas or bamboo if you can bring a spade and dig a bit up. Most people dont mind you collecting some seeds or taking a cutting if you ask nicely.
Contact your local council to find out about any recycling schemes for compost and bark mulch from christmas trees.
Buycheap seeds, trays and feed from places like Morrisons, Wilkinsons and Aldi or sign up for email offers from the seed supliers like Thompson and Morgan or Suttons.
Visit misc auctions at your local auction centre for cheap bedding plants, fruit canes, trees and shrubs.
Happy gardening!

[Plantoid]

You'll be suprised at what is going for free to make raised beds old pallets are often a good source cut then to the height you want along the planks of wood .
 
 Old building demolitions  often see you able to get free floor joists and roof timers to cut to predecided sized for your raised beds .
 Old hollow concrete block are another good source if you able to find some farmer about to demolish a shed
 I do what is know as " All New Square Foot Gardening  second edition " the book is available on amazon ( or kindle  ) for around a tenner delivered
 
Some folk are using cut down  plastic farm containers like old 30 litre dairy bleach containers that are free of chemicals or cut in half old plastic oil tanks that have been scrubbed out . 310 litre used food barrels cut in to tubs , the massive 500 litre fruit juice containers also seem popular.
 
 Someeven use truck and tractor tyres for raised beds , your inagination is your limit.
 Filling with compost made , " The Berkley 18 day hot composting method " is common and very very effective . The mix I use is at least five different animal based manures including beddings , composted as above and mixed with coir and some vermiculite to keep it really light ..
 
 Ok I've spent an arm and a leg on getting my raised beds built in red engineering bricks and the rest of the garden landscaped as I'm crippled and not going to get any fitter ( It's all down hill all the way from here )  But one of my mates in lincolnshire  made 10 raised table top type beds on pallets to waist height ....  raised beds 6 inches deep and has sucessfully grown all manner of veg and flowers .. don't mock the 6 " it's enough for anyone to grow most things in it just requitres a different mind set
 
 

[happygolucky]

Love some of the ideas, hay, no one wants to bend down when they can garden and save their backs.......we all get older and a lot of us find bending difficult, Plantoid, our raised beds are stunning..

[Plantoid]

I've seen lots of "\ ladies " sorting out additions for their gardens when I've been visiting various Nat trust places and show gardens . They take some thin damp sponge es and "  borrow cuttings " when they think  no one is looking
 Over the years I've been amazed at what has found it's way in to these oold ladies gardens
 Mircale grow used to do little pots of clear rooting gel apparently these were mqagic for getting various cuttings rooted ..far cheaper than the garden centers
 You can make your own gloop using vegetarian gelatin and a couple of drops of baby bio and use hormone compound on the cuttings .
I have some 16 hebes taske from my deceased aunts garden in east Anglia in July last year and kept moist like this for threee day till we got home back here in sout Wales
 I've  also collected some giant redwood fir cones at Warrick Castle plus pockets full of other seeds and a few small heeled cuttings. They all made it back to East Anglia safely and produced viable pants that I left in the big gardens where I used to live.
 I felt saddened  on a drive by a couple of years to go for all the gardens were well trashed  & now surrounded by double six foot chainlink fences on concrete posts  and a pack of what looked like seven or more white St Bernards running wild inside .

[escapedtothecountry]

Like the vegetarian gelatin tip! Will give it a try!

[Clarebelle]

Aww Plantoid, that is really sad.   

I remember moving in to my first MOD married quarter and planting raspberry canes and grape vines as well as other bits and bobs. I was so proud of my raspberries/grapes but when it came time for us to move they made us rip it all out so all the beds were bare soil. It was so sad 

[Ina]

Aww Plantoid, that is really sad.   

I remember moving in to my first MOD married quarter and planting raspberry canes and grape vines as well as other bits and bobs. I was so proud of my raspberries/grapes but when it came time for us to move they made us rip it all out so all the beds were bare soil. It was so sad 

That's what I'm afraid of - if I ever move out of the council house I'm in... It was all chuckies and grass when I moved in. Not perfect yet, but it looks a lot different now. BUT - if I move out, I'm sure they'll want me to return it to the state it was before. (All the neighbours' "gardens" are chuckies only.) They even killed the few plants I dared plant outside my fence, to hide the rotten, ugly fence boards they obviously don't have the money to do anything about... (It was only nasturtiums, but still.)