Gardening for Free By Deirdre Prince

Deirdre tells us why we should embrace wild flowers.

I sometimes find it hard to pass a new plant in a garden centre or nursery and there are times I feel a bit like Imelda Marcos, collecting plants instead of shoes. Counting up the cost of purchasing plants can be a bit of a shock to the bank balance but there are ways of filling your garden beds with lots of colour and little or no expense. Saving your own seeds This is possibly the easiest and cheapest way of re-populating your garden. When the blooms have started to fade on your favourite plants, rather than deadheading to prolong the blooming period, leave them on the plant to form seeds. Allow the seed head to dry out completely until it turns brown, before removing it from the plant. Sometimes the seeds will fall out of their pods when they are ready, such as poppy seeds. When you’re harvesting the seeds, shake the cut seed pod into a tray or plate and allow them to fully dry out before storing. When the seeds are fully dried out, store them in glass or plastic containers or small paper bags/envelopes. Make sure you label the seeds for when you need them next year and store them in a dry, cool place.

Read more in the October issue…