I’m a gardening pro…my £1 unwanted charity shop buy will instantly transform your indoor windowsills
WITH the cost of living crisis hitting us hard – along with extreme weather worries – a focus on sustainable gardening and wellbeing has become a really big trend.
And by that I mean maintaining your garden without exhausting it’s natural resources, while looking after yourself too.
It’s a tricky time out there and we could all do with a bit of help.
So Amateur Gardening Magazine Editor Kim Stoddart has shared five of the best ways to garden well while saving money.
1. SEED SAVING
Saving some of your own seeds from what you’ve already grown will create more locally adapted plants.
It’s a way of plant breeding on your veg patch – just choose the seed from the plant that performs best.
The one with the best flavour, or that didn’t bolt – will save you money but also create more resilient plants.
2. TOOL MANAGEMENT
Look after your tools, make them last longer – and create a real connection with them.
Sharpen them, oil them, you can even name them.
Carrying out small scale fixes feels really good, saves you money and gives you confidence.
And it means you’re not constantly buying in new stuff every year.
There’s all sorts of expensive oil you can buy – but WD40 for £1 from Poundland is absolutely fine.
3. TURN YOUR PLANTS INTO PERENNIALS
Try and grow plants on for longer – you can turn some of them into semi-perennials.
This works well with Swiss Chard, purple sprouting broccoli and some of the flat leafed Kale.
Once they’ve done their thing, cut them back before they flower and set seed.
Leave some leaves for photosynthesis, but cut back by about a third so it contains energy in the plant that keeps it growing.
If you’ve got some kind of undercover space they can grow on for years.
4. SWAPSIES!
Bartering, exchange, tool shares, seed swaps, neighbours, local gardening groups – get connected. There’s a sociability to it, and a feel good factor.
It’s more sustainable, you can get free stuff and make your money go further. From a wellbeing perspective, little acts of kindness makes you feel good and people smile.
5. CHARITY SHOPS!
Charity shops are a fantastic resource of interesting things to plant in. They’re always under a pound.
Even something like turning a Wellington boot into a windowsill planter.
Get creative by turning unwanted goods into gardening winners.
Kim’s book The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Gardener, How to Grow Veg in a Changing Climate, is out now.
In Veronica's Sun Gardening Column this week...
Follow me @biros_and_bloom for tips, competitions and news
IT”S BBC Gardeners World Live at the NEC Birmingham this weekend – and taking pride of place is a sustainable outside space that’s been created by show fans.
The Viewers’ Garden, designed by Pip Probert, celebrates the videos that Gardeners’ World viewers send in to the TV show of their gardens and growing spaces. And it won a Platinum award from the Judges.
Pip Probert said: “After seeing how popular the viewers’ content has been each week, we realised that people have been enjoying seeing old, everyday materials upcycled into something different and new. We picked a range of clips from the TV show and invited the talented and imaginative people that made them to be a part of a show garden. It’s a working garden that celebrates the joy of growing your own produce, with a focus on sustainability through recycling.”
LEARN! To cope with the extreme change in temperatures, Brit greenhouse company Griffin has bought out a free booklet explaining how you can achieve better results under hotter conditions.
The booklet identifies key changes that should be made for “growing success” and gives top tips to improve fruit and vegetable greenhouse growing. It also identifies six new crops that can be grown under glass with the higher temperatures.
Download it free of charge from the Griffin Glasshouses website HERE
THIS WEEK’S JOB! Start staking and tying back your Hydrangea, especially if you’ve got Annabelle – as their massive heads often make them collapse.
THIS WEEK’S TIP Blackfly are starting to appear on roses – so give them a good blast of a few drops of fairy liquid mixed with water into an old squirty bottle.
SAVE! GET deadheading with these clever £14 Snips from Niwaki, or make cut backs with Spear and Jackson’s £7.46 version on Amazon.
WIN! Our lovely friends at Stiga are giving away a Mountfield Typhoon 30litre kit lawn mower worth £119. To enter, fill in THIS FORM or write to Sun TYPHOON competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 29/06/24
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Sun Gardening Editor’s Veronica Lorraine‘s top charity shop tips:
“You can get all sorts of gardening tools from charity shops, and often they’ll be in pretty good condition.
“Electric strimmers are always knocking about, and because it’s in a charity shop, they should work properly.
“Remember that anything can be turned into a pot – make sure to drill holes in the bottom if you’re putting it outside.
“But things like old fashioned glass fruit bowls, vases, bowls, pans or even mugs can be transformed into planters.
“Get a gardening outfit from the charity shop so you don’t ruin your proper clothes – you could get a whole set for a few pounds – and then it doesn’t matter how dirty it gets.
“Keep an eye out for old gardening books as well – although gardening trends are always changing, the basics remain the same.
“And you can always use old cushions as kneelers and even old rugs to spruce up your outside space.”
