Gardening on a Shoe String – Tips & Tricks

There’s nothing like swooning over other peoples gardens or day dreaming over the beautiful creations at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. But the trick is to take inspiration from these 5 star gardens and bring them back to your own backyard without breaking the bank!

Our 3 key tips for a budget friendly garden:

Grow from seed
Propagate your own plants
Get creative

Investing in a greenhouse from Sproutwell Greenhouses is brilliant for the beginner gardener – look at their lend-to-models or those that are similar in size to a wardrobe. A greenhouse can help you get a headstart on the season when growing from seeds, nurture young seedlings before they are ready to plant out and improve the strike rate of cuttings.

Most seeds like a soil temperature of around 18 degrees or more to germinate, so a greenhouse is the perfect place to keep them warm and germinating well. And the Sproutwell range of greenhouses have adjustable vents to regular the temperature inside.

When choosing what to grow in your garden, think about the herbs you use weekly and might be buying from the supermarket at $3 a bunch. And think about the vegetables you and your family can’t do without. It’s these herbs and veggies that you should grow in your garden – this will save you loads of money and it’s great knowing exactly how they’ve been grown.

So you have a continuous harvest rather than a produce flood, you can plant another round of seeds once the first lot you planted have reached the stage where they are ready to plant out into the garden. And remember if you grow too many seedlings, you can always trade them with friends or at a local crop swap meet.

If you want a garden full of flowers, remember to grow as many as you can from seed or cuttings to save you money. Many plants like succulents are super easy to propagate from cuttings and they set root and grow easily.

And when it comes to growing things in pots – get creative about your containers. Look for unusual containers in op shop like tea cups, kettles and old vases – just drill a hole in the bottle for drainage and old biscuit tins are perfect for herbs.

You don’t need a lot of money for an incredible garden, just a creative mind and a bit of ingenuity.

Make sure to checkout the full range from Sproutwell Greenhouses: