Credit crunch gardening! by Sue Fisher

There’s never been a better time to be careful on what you spend on your garden. Re-using rather than buying, raising plants from scratch are just one of many ways to save money

Being a thrifty gardener is all the rage in these budget conscious times. Anyone with even the smallest patch of ground can be streets ahead when it comes to saving money – and growing a better garden too, a real win/win situation.

Think about re-using rather than buying; composting to improve your soil and saving on fertilisers or soil improvers; growing your own grub; and using your green fingers to raise plants from scratch. Just think how much you could save over the course of a year!

One person’s trash can be the gardeners’ treasure, and a horticultural view on rubbish can really slim down your bin. Large plastic bottles can be turned into mini cloches (cut off the base and remove the screw top); as watering devices with the addition of a ‘bottle-top waterer’; or cut into ‘collars’ to keep slugs at bay. Plastic punnets and yoghurt pots make good little plant pots (use a soldering iron or heat a skewer to make drainage holes), and plant labels from margarine tubs cut into strips. Old nylon tights make brilliant plant ties as they are strong yet stretchy: must be good as they’re even used by professional rose growers.

Rather than buying expensive pots, use anything that can hold compost and have drainage holes made in it: old zinc wash tubs and mop buckets, wheelbarrows, water tanks, sinks – even toilets. After all, once filled with cascading plants, your containers’ humble origins will soon be concealed. Rich pickings can be found at the resale section of your local tip, at car boot and jumble sales, newspaper small ads, and Freecycle (www.freecycle.org), an inspired webbased organisation that is dedicated to keeping good stuff out of landfill. Stout compost or animal feed bags make fantastic potato or tomato planters: turn inside out, roll over the top for a neat edge, and spear the base with a fork for drainage. Used car tyres are a huge waste problem and not only make good containers, but can be stacked three or four high for an instant compost bin or wormery.

On the subject of compost, never fail to recycle anything remotely rot-able to make a wonderful soil conditioner to keep your plants glowing with health. Compost heap ingredients include most garden waste, though avoid diseased plant material and perennial weed roots, and do shred or chop branches first. Uncooked kitchen waste, paper, card, and small animal bedding (e.g. rabbits or guinea pigs) can all go on too. And for the bin itself? I swear by wooden shipping pallets just tied to form a ‘box’ – available free from many businesses that are only too pleased to shift them. Okay, so pallets don’t look great, but fine for anyone with an out-ofsight composting corner.

Turn to nature for a bit more help in keeping down costs. Have a go at making your own plant supports using hazel or willow stems, anytime from autumn to early spring while stems are flexible and leaf-free. If you have an unused corner of garden, plant a couple of bushes and ‘coppice’ or cut to the ground annually for a harvest of straight stems.

Plants needn’t be expensive either, so don’t be put off by the price tags in some big garden centres. Search out smaller, cheaper nurseries that grow their own plants; look out for plant fairs (both amateur, like WI ones, and professional, such as those run by Plant Heritage, www.nccpg.com); join your local gardening club or get together with some gardening friends to organise seed and plant swaps. Make the biggest savings by growing your own annuals, perennials, and even shrubs from seed. Winter is the ideal time to curl up with a pile of seed catalogues to plan for the year ahead, whilst relishing that warm fuzzy feeling of doing the planet a good turn too, as well as your bank account.

Sue Fisher is a garden designer and writer with a passion for sustainable gardening www.suefishergardens.co.uk

• Give a second life to 'throwaway' items like plastic bottles and punnets.
• Turn 'junk' into plant containers!
• Boost your soil by making garden, kitchen and household waste into lovely rich compost.
• Make your own plant supports using hazel or willow.
• Share and swap plants, raise your own from seed, and buy wisely.