The purchase of plants is a very important budget, yet there is no need to break the bank to have an opulent garden.
Collect the seeds
At the end of the season, plants begin their fruiting period. Take advantage of this time to collect the mature seeds of perennials, annuals and biennials in order to sow them when the time comes and thus obtain numerous plants free of charge. Many plants lend themselves to this method of propagation. Pansies, forget-me-nots, campanulas or petunias, but also zinnias, cosmos, balsamines, carnations and marigolds, will decorate borders, beds and window boxes. The alysses, aubrietes, achillas and sedums will complete your rock gardens. Simply take the ripe seeds in dry weather and place them in a paper envelope on which you have written their names to remind you when the time comes to sow them.
For vegetable plants, the same operation is possible, you can collect the seeds of tomatoes, zucchinis, pasta, peppers or peppers but also cabbages, beets or carrots to sow them the following year. Be careful, seeds from F1 hybrids are sterile, no need to linger on them!
Exchange with your neighbors
Exchanging seeds is a simple and friendly way to obtain a very diversified garden. At plant festivals or with your neighbors, exchange seeds, cuttings or bulbs to build up a beautiful collection of plants.
Divide bulbs and rhizomes
In the garden, many plants multiply easily in this way. Iris, crocosmias, lily of the valley and daffodils are the most obvious examples, as they quickly form large clumps that can be dug up and replanted all over the garden after flowering, which corresponds to the plant's vegetative rest. In the vegetable garden, Jerusalem artichokes and crosnes multiply at will, so don't deprive yourself!
Divide perennials
Over the years, perennials form beautiful, vigorous clumps that can be divided in the fall or spring. This division allows you to give new vigor to aging plants but also to enlarge your beds at a lower cost.
Among these plants are columbines, bergenias, ajugas, periwinkles, carnations, phlox, monardes or pulmonaria.
Some shrubs produce offshoots, so don't hesitate to separate them from the mother plant and replant them in another area of the garden. This is the case of lilacs, dogwoods, but also raspberry bushes and many spring or summer flowering shrubs.
Layering soft-stemmed plants
Laying down a long stem on the ground to root it in the soil is a very effective method of propagation. It can be used on most climbing plants but also on rhododendrons, forsythia and viburnum. This method allows you to obtain plants identical to the mother plant that you can transplant at your leisure in your garden.
