When there isn't money for nursery plants, where do you get your plants from instead?

[rosemarythyme]

Wish I could just throw some at you! I'm having to tear out little chive starts everywhere because I'm too lazy to pick up the dried flowerheads and they end up seeding the gravel in the driveway.

 

[lazy gardener]

Funny. I've NEVER had chives self sow. I started some chive seedlings this spring.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My original chive is about 8 years old, it dies back every winter and regrows every spring. Next to it is a daughter plant, about 2 years old. Next to that is a granddaughter from last year. And now there's great-grandchives sprouting up all around it. If I don't clear out the baby plants I'll have great-great-grandchives sprinkled through gravel and so on each year. I guess these chives like me!

 

[Marmalade25]

To continue the free garden supply theme, has anyone used free town compost before? Was yours a complete soil or did it need to be ammended with hummus, etc?

 

[lazy gardener]

My town has huge mountains of composting MATERIALS in an unused parking lot. One section is stable litter. There are mountains of wood chips in various degrees of composting. There are separate leaf piles. The "compost" is made up mainly of leaves and is poorly broken down. But, no matter how "fresh" the material is, it is still started.

My Dad used to get compost from his town. but he had to sift it to get broken glass, bits of wire and such out of it. And, any of the material I bring home may have similar items in it. Occasionally, I'll find useable hardware! I got a viable peony plant in a bag of leaves once! One year, I brought home 4 huge bags of beautiful Valley Hemlock mulch.

 

[Ahavati]

My town has huge mountains of composting MATERIALS in an unused parking lot. One section is stable litter. There are mountains of wood chips in various degrees of composting. There are separate leaf piles. The "compost" is made up mainly of leaves and is poorly broken down. But, no matter how "fresh" the material is, it is still started.

My Dad used to get compost from his town. but he had to sift it to get broken glass, bits of wire and such out of it. And, any of the material I bring home may have similar items in it. Occasionally, I'll find useable hardware! I got a viable peony plant in a bag of leaves once! One year, I brought home 4 huge bags of beautiful Valley Hemlock mulch.

Our town has this too!! We got tons of compost/mulch for nothing. You can scoop yourself for free or pay $10 per load (no matter the size of the load) for them to scoop and dump. We usually filled our pick up.

 

[Marmalade25]

I have been getting town compost to fill in or create flower beds, but have not put any in my veggie garden because "never know what's in there". But since I have to be opportunistic, I do use it even though it exactly as you describe... Mulchy, bits of plastic, a few pieces of hardware... Lol. I laid a ton (not really a ton) down and planted loads of flower seeds. But I am questioning now whether it is a good medium for them. I might go get a bag of garden soil just to give them a better shot. I spotted some red twig dogwood clippings at the compost center that looked fresh so I grabbed them and stuck them in water to see if they might survive and maybe somehow I could root them?? We'll see.

 

[lazy gardener]

Your flowers should grow well, even if the stuff is a bit "mulchy". The only thing that might be an issue is if there is too much nitrogen in the mix. Time will tell. But, free is free, right?

I'm pushing hubby to help me take the cap off the truck this weekend so I can start picking up mulch and wood chips for the garden.

IMO, a must have if you are growing your own seedlings is a little mini green house, like this:

They are cheap, discount stores sell them for $15 each.
I bought 2 of them, and made a little wheeled cart so I could wheel them in and out of the garage. After the frames and plastic wore out, I bought a 4 tier one, but am not pleased with it b/c it blows over in a strong breeze. I find these little frames to be so useful b/c they don't take up a lot of room Each shelf will hold 2 trays of 6 pack seedlings.

If you want to go "free" you could make a hay bale cold frame and cover the top with sloped plastic or storm windows.

 

[MotherOfPeepPeeps]

I'm in the same position. I recently put an add on Craigslist explaining my situation and asked if anyone had any plant divisions, extra seedstock, fruit tree scions, cuttings or anything else to spare. I have already responded to calls to come pick up daffodils, irises, rose of Sharron cuttings, apple trees, strawberries, asparagus crowns, seed potatoes, and an assortment of locally acclimated heirloom seeds.

Also check and see if you have a local garden club or seed exchanges.

Good luck!

 

[oregonkat]

Irises are a nice filler for the perennial beds too. Easy, easy to grow, divide and plant. I have several iris roots that I completely forgot about from a friend that I threw on the ground last year and now they are growing perfectly happily right where I threw them. Folks around here give them away all the time. They fill in a space pretty quickly too!