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

[lazy gardener]

I wonder if yours is a different cultivar. Mine stays in a clump, and does not spread by underground rhizomes the way the mints do. However, I've found that the many seedlings that have gone rogue in my uncultivated areas have over time become less fragrant than their ancestors were! I actually bought some lemon balm last weekend to replace the rogues. Some of those rogues are being planted along with peppermint and oregano at the base of my chicken run.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/lemon-balm/growing-lemon-balm.htm

If not carefully controlled, lemon balm can quickly become invasive in the garden. Often, people mistakenly think that lemon balm is invasive due to its roots, like its cousins peppermint and spearmint, but in fact it is the seeds of the lemon balm plant that cause this herb to suddenly take over a garden. Removing the flowers of the plant as soon as they appear will make your lemon balm far less invasive.

 

[21hens-incharge]

That's funny. I have lemon balm and it is very well behaved. But, when I had spider wort, it went wild. I had to rip it out repeatedly, and swore that I'd never have it in my yard again, even though it is pretty.

Spider wart here is hard to find and then it's 12 bucks a 4" pot.

That's crazy! I've dug every bed to 12 inches and finger combed roots out. It hid around the roses apparently where I couldn't dig. I take a hoe and scrape about an inch down weekly now. It comes right back. Sure smells nice but crowds things out. Considering planting it in the lawn for the smell when I mow!

That's how the lady bells are in my rose bed. I have started taking the weed eater in there.
Super thick and super invasive.
They are migrating into my other beds too.

Darned frustrating.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I wonder if yours is a different cultivar. Mine stays in a clump, and does not spread by underground rhizomes the way the mints do. However, I've found that the many seedlings that have gone rogue in my uncultivated areas have over time become less fragrant than their ancestors were! I actually bought some lemon balm last weekend to replace the rogues. Some of those rogues are being planted along with peppermint and oregano at the base of my chicken run.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/lemon-balm/growing-lemon-balm.htm

If not carefully controlled, lemon balm can quickly become invasive in the garden. Often, people mistakenly think that lemon balm is invasive due to its roots, like its cousins peppermint and spearmint, but in fact it is the seeds of the lemon balm plant that cause this herb to suddenly take over a garden. Removing the flowers of the plant as soon as they appear will make your lemon balm far less invasive.

I've been doing it wrong! Tough deep roots though, can't pull even tiny baby plants of it out without digging, then you dig up 2 feet of root so I blamed those. Should have been cutting it down all along.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Has anyone had luck getting cuttings from shrubs to root? I’m trying to root azalea cuttings but I’m not having any luck.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Has anyone had luck getting cuttings from shrubs to root? I’m trying to root azalea cuttings but I’m not having any luck.

Have you tried rooting hormones?

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/cuttings/root-stimulating-hormone.htm

 

[oregonkat]

Found some lovely ferns tucked away in a not very visible spot and put them on display.

A really lovely combination is ferns and hostas with variegated solomon seal. It has a beautiful, graceful stem with moderately large leaves and delicate white dangling flowers. Gorgeous, I love it. Great for cut flowers too! Pretty easy to divide if you know someone with any.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've never had any luck with the rooting hormone. As a matter of fact, my luck is better without it. If I was going to try rooting a woody plant, I'd bend a small branch down to the ground, wound it near a leaf node, then peg it down, with a good layer of soil over the top. Leave the tip exposed. Keep it watered all season, and use some willow water which has natural rooting hormones. If you are successful, the following spring, you should have a rooted plant at the tip which you can remove and plant elsewhere.

 

[lazy gardener]

No money for fruit trees: build your own. Grow seedlings from apple or pear seeds. Give them excellent soil and good fertility. They will be ready to use as grafting root stock in 2 seasons. Then, graft scion wood onto them. Trade garden produce or eggs for scion wood.

Finally, after 3 tries, my pear grafts have taken. The first one: a whip graft failed. The second one, a cleft graft done by a friend took last spring. But in my exuberance to unwrap it and weed around it, I broke the graft off. This spring, i did 2 scions into a cleft, and they have both taken. Barring injury, I should be able to keep them alive, and choose the strongest one for my Seckel tree. In an other year, I can graft an other variety onto the Seckel to have a multi variety tree. I have 2 more seedling pears in the garden that are waiting to grow big enough to accept a graft. Also have seedling apples destined for the same treatment.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Have you tried rooting hormones?

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/cuttings/root-stimulating-hormone.htm

Yes I’ve tried rooting hormones with no luck

 

[oregonkat]

Yes I’ve tried rooting hormones with no luck

I am not sure if azaleas have similar propagation rules as rhododendrons but we had success rooting rhodie cuttings in a propagation box that was built with a rubber pond liner in a wood box with a glass top. The cuttings were placed in a medium that was quite sandy in texture. New tip growth was taken in the fall, sliced at a sharp angle, dipped in rooting hormone and put in the box and left until the following fall. Worked pretty well for us. The glass top was opened about an inch during the summer months but closed the rest of the time and the condensation was pretty much all the watering that the plants got.