All of us need to tighten the purse strings after Christmas – however there are methods it can save you cash on gardening all year long.

So says budget-conscious gardener and social media star Anya Lautenbach (@anya_thegarden_fairy), whose second guide The Cash-Saving Backyard 12 months affords a wealth of concepts in a month-by-month information on methods to create a backyard that prices much less.

So, begin the New 12 months as you imply to go on, together with her steerage.

January

“No person thinks about gardening in January, and after Christmas many individuals have plenty of stuff they need to filter. Now could be the time for money-saving gardeners to ask for pre-owned pots, high quality instruments and backyard furnishings on social media.

“Be proactive and ask on social media if anybody has any good-quality backyard furnishings that you could purchase. I’ve purchased some superb issues in January, once you don’t need to compete with a military of money-saving gardeners, which often occurs round April. Most cities have social teams on Fb – strive there.”

February

“This month is all about pruning. I preserve all my prunings and switch them into essentially the most lovely plant helps. Complete branches can be utilized as plant helps. Beech branches, as an illustration, are very decorative and can be utilized for supporting spring flowers like hyacinths in pots. They solely have to be about seven inches lengthy.”

March

“March is nice time for creating herbs without spending a dime. If you happen to purchase a packet of herbs from a grocery store, these tiny little branches will be put in a little bit of water to create extra herbs without spending a dime. Rosemary, oregano and basil can all be rooted this manner.

“It’s additionally a month for sowing seed and taking cuttings. I take basal cuttings of lupins, which is able to flower the identical 12 months.”

April

Determine seedlings from vegetation which have self-seeded in your backyard, she suggests. “It’s troublesome to establish them when they’re little, however each iPhone has an icon for data. If you happen to see a plant in your backyard, take an image and get your cellphone to establish it, then see if you are able to do one thing with it.

“I didn’t know that hellebores, that are very costly, self seed. Years in the past I used to be working within the backyard and realised what they have been. I discovered free hellebores and from that point I’ve by no means spent any cash on them.”

She digs up the seedlings in autumn, pots them up in peat-free compost and transplants them the next 12 months.

Could

“This month is all about propagation as a result of days will be cool and there’s humidity within the air. Take softwood cuttings – the stem of the plant that’s smooth – hydrangeas are notably good for this.”

You’ll be able to nonetheless sow seeds in Could, which is a less expensive choice than shopping for mature vegetation.

“Divide vegetation which have flowered earlier within the 12 months like primulas and pulmonarias, or purchase them from backyard centres within the sale, when they’re wanting hopeless, as a result of they are going to come again.”

June

“For me, June is extra about utilizing what my backyard has produced up to now, like utilizing dried allium heads for adornment or making a lavender wreath as a substitute of spending cash on stuff.”

You may as well minimize roses and different flowers in bloom in your backyard moderately than spending cash within the florist’s, she provides.

July

Gather seeds from vegetation equivalent to foxgloves from July and thru the summer season, thereby saving cash on shopping for seeds and bigger vegetation, she suggests.

It’s additionally an excellent time to select nettles and comfrey to steep in a bucket of water to make your personal fertiliser and save kilos on shop-bought ones.

August

“That is nice time to go to backyard centres and choose up bargains within the gross sales. Typically you may choose up a pleasant tree or mature shrub for a decreased value. You may as well go for perennials which have flowered. Don’t be discouraged by the look of the plant as a result of when you take care of it, it will likely be positive subsequent 12 months.”

September

“Take cuttings of tender vegetation equivalent to pelargoniums, nemesias and pinks, Salvia ‘Amistad’, and overwinter them in your windowsill. Then when everybody’s shopping for new vegetation subsequent 12 months, you should have yours without spending a dime.”

September can be an excellent month for dividing vegetation equivalent to hostas, coneflowers, rudbeckia and peonies, she says.

October

Use a layer of grass cuttings as a mulch in your beds and borders to save cash on shop-bought merchandise, to suppress weeds and maintain in moisture, she advises.

“Watch out, although, when you use (shop-bought) fertilisers in your grass as a result of they usually include weedkillers which might harm your vegetation,” she warns.

November

“This can be a nice time for purchasing reduced-price bulbs,” she says. “Backyard centres could have all their Christmas inventory and you may choose up some superb bulbs like daffodils and tulips for subsequent to nothing. And it’s not too late to plant your spring bulbs in November.”

December

Purchase bare-rooted timber, shrubs and hedges, that are considerably cheaper than potted ones, she suggests.

If you happen to acquired an amaryllis for Christmas, as soon as it has completed flowering it may be overwintered and when you retailer it, you may reuse the bulb for subsequent 12 months, she suggests.

Compelled hyacinths which flowered through the festive season will be planted out within the backyard after flowering and though they gained’t come again as robust, they need to nonetheless come again in subsequent years, she says.

The Cash-Saving Backyard 12 months by Anya Lautenbach is revealed by DK, priced £16.99. Out there now.