Making a border without buying plants

Dianthus carthusianorum, grown from seed

Plants are so expensive to buy these days (and I am always being accused by my husband of spending a fortune on them) so I’ve made it my mission to plant up the new border I have just dug over without spending a thing (or at least not much more than the cost of a few packets of seed). This means being really creative about what I already have; splitting or moving plants, digging up seedlings or growing new ones from seed. It also means that the border will look at home with the rest of the garden as I’ll be using what is already here, albeit in different combinations. And it doesn’t have to be a thrown together mish-mash, it can still have a considered plan, with heights, shapes and textures working together. Next week, I’ll show you the plan I’ve put together, but meanwhile, here are the ways you can minimise costs on a new planting scheme. All the images in this post by the way are ‘free plants’ that were seed raised or grown from cuttings.