These are 7 cheap (and beautiful) garden plants
Flowers are essential in any garden. Want lots of flowers in your garden? Buying individual plants can be quite expensive. Luckily, there are also affordable garden plants that can transform your garden into a true gem! Check out these 7 options.
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The (native) garden plants below are a great addition to your garden, both visually and for wildlife! They spread easily, so you can quickly achieve results for little money. Collecting seeds from these plants is also a great budget-friendly tip, which you can also find in our new special edition, "185 Budget Ideas for Your Ideal Garden ."
Lady's bedstraw is a beautiful, fresh-green groundcover that thrives in shade. In spring, it transforms your shade garden into a white wash of bright white flowers. It's a native plant and prefers moist conditions. Although the plant is also dispersed by seed by ants (known as ant bread), it forms a carpet through rhizomes.
- Height x Width : 15-30 cm x 100-100 cm
Don't let money get in the way of your dream garden. With a little fresh thinking, you can save a lot and still create a garden that's completely yours. Grow smarter, take cuttings, reuse things creatively, and discover many other practical tips.
- Create a complete garden design on a small budget
- Save money on sowing, planting and cuttings and grow your own vegetables
- Creative DIY projects and reuse tips
A very popular garden plant with proven medicinal properties, and above all, a beautiful sight! The marigold is an annual (though winter-hardy) and must be sown every year. Fortunately, you can easily harvest the seeds yourself, making this a truly inexpensive garden plant. The orange flowers are also a hit with pollinators! Read more about Calendula here.
- Height x Width : 30-50 cm x 25 cm
The name alone is regal! This beautiful, tall plant has pale pink flowers and is an absolute insect magnet in summer. It's a lovely plant to plant at the back of a border, creating a nice height difference. Besides the native variety, there are countless varieties to choose from to bring a variety of colors to your garden.
Meadowsweet does like moist soil, so check your garden for suitability, or plant it as a waterside plant . This plant tends to self-seed prolifically, which is beneficial if you want inexpensive garden plants. Thin out seedlings promptly.
- Location: Part shade – full sun
- Height x Width : 150 cm x 150 cm
Indispensable in many gardens; verbena . This beautiful plant has thin stems and narrow, dark green leaves. As icing on the cake, purple flowers form at the top. This plant sways beautifully in the wind and is frequently visited by butterflies .
Use this plant in the middle or back of the border. Although it's called ironhardy , it can't withstand icy cold. It self-seeds readily, and you'll see new seedlings emerge the following year. You can also collect the seeds and sow them indoors in spring in homemade paper seed pots .
- Height x Width : 150 cm x 45 cm
Tip: Verbena bonariensis is native to South America. In the Low Countries, we also have its more subtle cousin: Verbena officinalis . This "native" species is an archaeophyte ("old plant" in Greek) and has been present in the Netherlands for about 500 years.
If you live in humid areas, the purple loosestrife is a common sight in summer. Its numerous purple-red or pink flower spikes are usually teeming with wild bees , hoverflies, butterflies, and moths . This beautiful plant is perfect for your garden. It prefers fairly moist soil, for example, near a natural pond or in well-draining soil.
Is the purple loosestrife thriving? Then it will produce many seedlings, and you'll have a sea of flowers in no time. The plant is easy to keep under control by removing any excess seedlings.
- Location: Part shade, full sun
- Height x Width: 80-200 cm x 60 cm
Tip!
Do you have a larger garden and need a strong , flowering climber ? With one or two vines, you can cover a large area of wall or fence. Cost-effective!
In summer, your fence will be adorned with creamy white flowers, which, after fertilization, turn into fluffy balls (the plant is also called "old man's beard" in English). These fluff balls also have great ornamental value during the winter months and are readily eaten by some garden birds . The flowers are also popular with bumblebees, honeybees, and various wild bees.
Note: it's an inexpensive garden plant because it can cover a very large area. This is also something to keep in mind; you'll need to prune it regularly.
- Location: Part shade, full sun
- Height: 500 cm (up to a maximum of 25 metres if not pruned)
Looking for a fast-growing tree that's also affordable? Consider a willow, such as the pussy willow ( Salix caprea ). This relatively small tree grows up to 8 meters tall, making it ideal for gardens.
Buy them cheaply as loose rootstock or take a cutting from an older tree. In spring, it will bloom profusely with willow catkins, essential food for sleepy bumblebees. The tree should be planted in somewhat moist soil.
- Location: Part shade, full sun
Most of the plants mentioned above are winter-hardy, but there are also other hardy plants that you can obtain inexpensively. For example, considerthe dwarf periwinkle as a groundcover for shade . With a few plants, it can quickly form a beautiful carpet. Evergreen ferns are also a striking feature in autumn and winter. Although they can be expensive to purchase, ferns are easy to propagate . Another strong, winter-hardy species is the native snakeweed, which can spread considerably with its rhizomes and is therefore easy to propagate.
Garden plants, which are generally inexpensive, propagate via rhizomes or sow themselves readily. This makes growing these plants easier, and they are often offered at lower prices. Plants grown outdoors, such as at sustainable nurseries , are also sometimes cheaper; after all, no heated greenhouse is required. The cheapest way, of course, is to take cuttings yourself (pictured) or sow seeds.
Avoid buying cheap, poisonous plants, as they often die quickly. Instead, choose robust, long-lasting plants. These are also cheaper in the long run, as you won't have to constantly buy new ones. For example, check out these 10 easy-care, indestructible garden plants .
Don't let money get in the way of your dream garden. With a little fresh thinking, you can save a lot and still create a garden that's completely yours. Grow smarter, take cuttings, reuse things creatively, and discover many other practical tips.
- Create a complete garden design on a small budget
- Save money on sowing, planting and cuttings and grow your own vegetables
- Creative DIY projects and reuse tips
Besides this selection, there are countless other affordable garden plants available. You can buy them, but it's even more fun (and more affordable) to share plants:
- Take a look at your neighbours' plants and see what they have. Perhaps you can take a cutting?
- Are there multiple green gardens on the street and are excess plants being removed? You might be able to take over some.
- You can also organize a mini plant market and exchange plants with each other!
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