Do you want free plants? Yes please

Whether you want to fill up the flower beds in your garden or add to your collection of houseplants it will not be cheap but there are a few ways that you can reduce the costs and acquire a wide variety of plants for free.

The first thing to do is to join a local horticultural group if there is one in your area as like-minded gardeners will probably be interested in swapping plants and seeds. You may also gain knowledge about propagating new plants successfully from other people, another way of getting new plants by taking cuttings from original plants.

If you have plants in your garden that have become too large for the space they are in it is a good idea to divide and separate them and plant the other plants in alternative spaces in the garden, or give away to a friend or neighbour.

Collecting seeds from plants that have gone to seed and storing them in a cool dry place ready for next year is a useful way to produce new plants. Seeds can even be collected from fruit and salad items that are past their best and dried ready to produce a new crop the following year.