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[Henergy]

HI everyone,

I have recently managed to wrestle an area of garden away from my sport loving sons which I will call my own. I've a few veggies planted & am planning some pretty areas too. However, I'm on a limited budget so wondered where (maybe online) the best place to get garden supplies (plants, tools, ornaments etc) is. Our local garden centre is lovely - huge, great coffee shop, pets etc but its pricey in the extreme.

 

My second question relates to compost. I've had a bin since march & have been filling with chicken poo, aubiose, straw, kitchen peelings etc. How do I know when its ready ?

[sjp]

conpost is ready when it looks like soil/potting compost but a bit lumpier normally takes about 12 months in a 'Darlek' composter 12 - 18 months in an traditional compost bin

the bedding out of the coop and run I tend to compost in a muck pile/bin as it rots down quicker than compost and I want it to be a bit on the bulky /strawy side as my groud is on sand and gravel

[Cinnamon]

eBay is a great source for plants & other gardening goodies.

 

Another tip,if you are making a pretty area,is to go to the garden centre once a month & buy something in flower,that flowers every year,that way you will always having something blossoming in your patch

[ali-s]

I have bought all my pots and seed trays from either Poundland or Poundstretcher. I paid £1.00 for 20 pots (Poundland) and a little more for the seed trays (Poundstretcher) which came with clear plastic lids. They have been reused several times already and still look like they will last a good while.

 

Poundland have a massive range of gardening equipment, seeds, fruit bushes, cute garden ornaments, shrubs, bulbs etc.

 

Poundstretcher pretty much the same as Poundland but more geared to equipment, watering cans, tub trugs, plant food, large plastic ornamental pots etc.

 

Aldi are good for vegetable plug plants, and their Strawberry plants are very good value. I bought some Strawberry plants from there last week which are growing like mad and have light pink, dark pink or white flowers so at the moment they look attractive too.

 

B&Q and Homebase have a wide range of vegetable plants at reasonable prices. I bought my tomato and Cucumber plants form Homebase which are doing very well. I have raised both from seed in the past but what do you do with the 30 extra plants which germinated when you only need one or two

 

As for compost. This has always been a mystery to me. I have a compost bin which has been full for over a year and still the contents do not look like compost. I will be leaving it until next year and then see if it looks enough like compost to dig into the veg garden.

 

I grow my vegetables in raised beds, either wooden made by OH or my favourites - Linkabords which are a doddle to put together by me and can be moved around if they are not quite in the right place by me

 

Good luck with the gardening

[abwsco]

We're just back from Asda with a plastic greenhouse reduced to £5. They've also got some tools reduced. Have you Home Bargains or B & M's your way as they're cheap as well. Oh, and we've found smaller nurseries are usually cheapest for plants. Have never thought of ebay though so will investigate more. We are just in the process of getting our garden to look better as well now that the chickens are confined to an area.

[Redwing]

Chaplins over Plympton way is a cheaper option than a standard garden centre

 

They sell all the gear plus cheap plants and the plants when I've been there have been well looked after, no manky half dead ones like you see at some of the DIY stores

 

I used to work on and off just round the corner and used to stock the car up with all sorts each time I went

 

Then of course there is the old favourite Trago Mills who always used to sell stuff like that very cheaply, not sure if they still do though, possibly would cost a lot more in fuel though!

[Olly]

Gardening doesn't have to cost a fortune. As well as EBay, try Freecycle or boot sales for tools. See if you can swap seeds or plants with friends - I grew about 30 tomato plants this year, and half have been exchanged for cucumber, pepper and French bean seedlings. Look out for free seeds with magazines etc - you'll soon have more than you can sow!

 

The problem with most garden composters is that the compost never gets hot enough as they're too small. They can still work though - make sure to mix 'green' layers (kitchen waste, grass clippings, chicken poo) with 'brown' e.g, cardboard, paper. Stir it with a fork every so often and water it if it's dry. Chicken poo speeds things up.

[abwsco]

Re Asda greenhouse. DH has just put it up and it has both strong plastic and metal poles plus metal shelving so a real bargain imo. Cover is clear PVC with a zip front.

[craftyhunnypie]

We often swap seeds on the forum too! Wilkinson's are good for garden stuff - they are online too. Asda direct, Tesco direct. There is also Argos.

Poundland, Lidl, Aldi, table top sales / Summer fetes all good for plants - car boot sales too!

Try Preloved for bits & bobs also.

Enjoy your hobby. Gardening is great!

Emma.x

[Olly]

The other thing to remember is that flowerpots, seed trays and so on are just containers with drainage holes in. You can grow plants in yoghurt pots, sow seeds in toilet roll centres, plastic trays that held fruit or tomatoes - let your imagination go!

[chickencam]

You may find with your composter that the mix is too dry, try adding some water of leaving the lid off and letting the rain get in for a while. We usually empty ours in the early spring and spread them around the garden, then let the chickens out to spread it evenly and have a field day with the worms and woodlice

 

If you are using a lot of containers remember to keep them well fed and watered, but not waterlogged. dead heading annuals helps them to flower for longer too.

[jasperaliceuk]

Ditto about using food containers as pots.. but also, check out your local garden centre to see if they do pot recycling. At ours they ditch all their own pots and the public can leave their unwanted pots in a huge dump bin with a sign saying 'Help Yourself' - had some great pots from there. Many people don't propagate or have greenhouses so once a plant is in the ground the pots go in the dustbin. So, if everyone took them to the recycling centre all us Grow Your Own people can have decent pots for free.

 

Oh, and I also bought a wooden pot former from Ebay this year to make newspaper pots - jury is out on them at the moment as I can't decide if they just don't hold enough compost for good growth.

 

Sue

[beach chick]

1. only plant things you like - even if something is a bargain, if you dont like it, dont buy it!!

2. remember you can dig things up and move them around if they are in the wrong place

3. some things - michaelmas daisies, sedums, geraniums - can be divided so you get more plant for your money - see if a friend/family member could dig some bits and bobs up for you.

4. when you plant, remember things DO grow and get bigger!!

[counturchickens]

Sign up to free cycle, you can even put out requests. Try growing from seed too, its often easier than you think. Have fun!

[Valkyrie]

You only need buy one tomato plant - then when side shoots appear, just break them off and pop them in a pot of compost. I had one packet of seeds - 10 x Sungold. All grew and now I've got loads of plants that way. Sadly it's a hybrid so I can't use the seeds as they won't be the same. But I save the seeds on my french beans, runner beans and peas - as long as they aren't F1 hybrids.