Creating a beautiful garden on a budget with Anya Lautenbach

National Garden Scheme Ambassador, author and social media influencer, Anya Lautenbach aka The Garden Fairy, shares her top tips on creating a beautiful garden on a budget.

With increases in the cost of living and a squeeze on the amount of disposable income, beautiful gardens can seem like another thing that is out of reach, but creating a stunning garden in an affordable way is easier than most people think.

You can transform your outdoor space into a lovely green living room worth opening to the public and sharing with other people by thinking outside the box.  It’s possible to find good quality pre-owned and unique items such as tools, pots and furniture at a reasonable price on Facebook marketplace, eBay or Gumtree.

When looking for good quality items, timing it crucial! Starting your search in early spring or even late winter will make a difference, as later in the season you’ll have to compete with more gardeners, who will be looking for the same items as you. It’s amazing what can be found by proactively asking for specific items in your local Facebook groups in January, so rather than browsing the items listed, you can ask for the items you are interested in.

Plants are expensive but if you invest in good and strong varieties, you can easily make use of plants natural ways of reproducing and propagate them for your own garden. This will make dreamy gardens achievable at a fraction of the cost of buying more.

Propagation is a great way to save money and it will enable you to increase your stock at a very little or no expense – with just a handful of seeds or cuttings you can create a stunning border packed with plans ready to be admired by others.

Most plants are easy to propagate without a greenhouse or expensive equipment and the process of propagation is very straightforward and does not require any special tools or experience. Depending on a plant you propagate, cuttings will turn into garden ready plants within 1-12 months.

There are many methods of propagation suitable for every season, but one of the quickest way to fill a garden with the most amazing plants on the budget is by simply dividing them and planting in many different areas of your garden. Division is an incredibly simple way of reproducing plants giving you almost an instant impact result. Divided plants such as hydrangeas, dahlias, salvias or hardy geraniums establish very quickly, and you can create a mature looking border full of colour and interesting textures withing one year.

Even if propagation isn’t for you and you prefer to buy more established plants for greater impact, there are still ways you can save money. A great and cost-effective way of acquiring plants is by buying them bare root. Most popular plants available bare root include hedges, roses, peonies, trees and more. They are often available from supermarkets. If you are too busy to plant your plant straight away, you can place them in a large container or dig up a hole in your garden, place and cover your plants with some topsoil or compost, water well and leave for a few days or even weeks until you are ready to plant them in their destination.

The process of creating a garden on a budget can be a very rewarding task. Creating a garden in a more self-sufficient and sustainable way, by reusing, repurposing and propagating will not only save you a fortune, but it will also create a resilient and healthy garden, a garden for the future.

It’s not about instant gratification but rather about taking pleasure in the journey. Sharing the garden you have created yourself with other people can bring you a sense of purpose, connection and satisfaction. It can even be a life changing experience.

For more about Anya
Website: anyalautenbach.com
Instagram/ Facebook: anya_thegarden_fairy
ORDER HER THIRD BOOK: The Money-Saving Gardener CONTAINERS

Above: Anya’s beautiful garden, created from scratch with propagation at its heart

Five tips from Plant Heritage for successful propagation

The easiest way to propagate most plants is through taking cuttings.

Success starts with healthy parent plants
Take cuttings from non-flowering stems of vigorous, pest-free plants. If it is a neglected plant, look for the youngest growth, ideally firm green stems, avoid those that have become woody.

Think hygiene
Use clean, sharp snips, scissors or secateurs to make a neat cut just above a leaf joint. This protects both the parent plant and the cutting.

Pick the right plant part
Trim the cutting to just below the lowest leaf join, removing the lower leaves. This is the joint node and the new roots will develop from here. For plants such as pelargoniums leave the cut to dry in the air for an hour or so, this allows callousing to begin which will protect the cut edge from rotting. For large leaved plants you can trim the leaves by 50% as well.

Put your cutting to bed
Pot up your new cutting in a mix that will drain well, eg half peat-free growing media and half either horticultural grit, perlite, or coarse sand. If you are using rooting hormone, dip the cutting and then insert it into the compost firmly, using a pencil to make a hole. Firm and allow the pot to sit in a tray of water – this is better than watering from the top. Most cuttings can be kept on a windowsill but avoid harsh light and do not over water them.

Share your plants and plant stories
Label your cuttings with the plant’s name and where you got it and pass it on. Don’t forget to share its story, if you know it.

Over 1,600 National Garden Scheme gardens run plant sales, with many plants propagated or grown from seed by the garden owners. It’s the perfect opportunity to pick up quality plants at great prices. Look out for the flower symbol on the garden listings.