Creating a garden bursting with colour does not have to cost a fortune. Plenty of garden plants self-seed or need regular splitting, creating many possibilities for new plants. Most garden owners will be more than happy to swap or share cuttings and small plants — in fact, they usually love to do it.
You’ll find the following in most gardens:
Ground cover and edging plants Ajuga (bugle) is a low-maintenance perennial that spreads to form large clumps and is also good for splitting. It is a great choice for ground cover or edging a border and its purple-green leaves and blue flowers are happy in sun or shade. Also worth considering are the dainty blue clouds of spring Myosotis sylvatica (forget-me-not), the delicate white-spotted leaves of Pulmonaria (lungwort) and aromatic-leaved Geranium Macrorrhizum (cranesbill).
Don’t forget to add a splash of colour with the common primrose, the summer-long flowers of Viola odorata (sweet violet) and Campanula poscharskyana, and the vibrant pink of autumn-flowering Cyclamen.
Foliage plants Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle) is another prolific self-seeder that will soon colonise the edge of paths and the front of borders. With soft green foliage and sprays of short lime flowers, this perennial is popular with flower arrangers and gardeners . It is a great foil plant and fast to multiply, so you’ll soon have plenty of baby Alchemilla plants to pass on to other gardeners.
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Purple-leaved Heuchera is another useful foliage plant that spreads by rhizomes to create plenty of baby plants. Last autumn I split the Heuchera Palace Purple that was growing in my front garden to create four times as many plants. Also worth considering is the fresh green of Euphorbia (spurge) and the evergreen leaves of rosemary.
The pretties Aquilegia (columbine) is another perennial that sets seed with abandon. It’s ideal for the cottage garden and can be found in every colour from white, blue, purple, yellow, pink, orange and red. Knautia macedonia (crimson scabious), which holds elegant maroon button-flowers on wiry stems, is another herbaceous perennial that seems to multiply before my eyes. For a splash of late-summer colour, take cuttings from Verbena bonariensis. These cuttings take root easily in a grit, vermiculite and seed compost mix and you can create a good 10 to 20 new plants from one verbena. Other good choices for a self-seeding splash of colour include Centranthus ruber (valerian), Lunaria annua (honesty) and Dianthus barbatus (sweet william).
If you do need to buy plants to fill in the gaps, church fêtes and garden open days are great places to pick up bargains. Look for large specimens that you can split immediately into two or three smaller plants. When buying bulbs choose ones that multiply on their own, such as alliums and snowdrops. Another way to stretch your budget is to invest in smaller, cheaper plants — plugs or a packet of seeds. Planted at the right time , these will quickly overtake their more expensive counterparts and can grow larger than two-litre specimens in only a few months.
It’s not too late to sow some summer annuals — try nasturtiums, sunflowers, cosmos and poppies.
You can also swap plants and seeds through gardening clubs. Seedy Sunday, held every February in Brighton, is the UK’s biggest community seed swap. The website , www.seedysunday.org, also lists events around the country. Another site is www.gardenswapshop.com.