Create a herbaceous border on a budget

Creating stunning borders is the highlight of having a garden. Seeing those rich beds in full bloom and bursting with colour is what makes all of those hours of weeding and digging worthwhile. But thriving, luscious flower borders can be expensive – especially when you are starting from scratch.

Fortunately there are ways to get rich herbaceous borders on a budget. So let me share my top money-saving tips for frugal flowerbeds that can still take your breath away.

FRAMEWORK OF FEATURES

When designing any flower border, you need a framework of strong, reliable specimens that will anchor the planting. These are your permanent fixtures – once these are in place you can work around them with seasonal varieties.

Shrubs, trees and evergreens provide a great base for your flowers, as well as giving the border structure in winter. Plant a few feature specimens throughout the border.

A few smaller garden trees that are sure to brighten up your borders are:

• Acer palmatum (Japanese maple)

• Prunus (cherry)’Kiku-shidare-zakura’

• Salix caprea (Kilmarnock willow)

• Prunus (cherry) ‘Amanogawa’

However, these are not always cheap. You can save money by buying young plants and letting them grow to size, if you have the patience. Or for an instant effect you can try fast-growing shrubs that will quickly fill the empty spaces such as:

• Hydreangea

• Rosa glauca

• Spiraea japonica

AFFORDABLE ANNUALS

For fast results, sow annual flowers. These germinate, bloom and set seed all in one season, so they act fast and can transform a bare plot.

They come in all sizes, shapes and colours imaginable, so it’s worth scouring your local garden retailer for seeds that you love.

• Poppy

• Aster

• Cosmos

• Sweet pea

• Zinnia

• Dahlia

• Begonia

• Verbena

• Sweet alyssum

• Sunflower

PRETTY PERENNIALS

The cheapest way to buy new plants is from seed. But they can take a long time to reach maturity, leaving you with a half-empty bed.

However, there are some varieties that grow fast. These are all strong perennials that will flower in one season:

• Achillea

• Delphinium

• Coreopsis

• Agastache

Sow them in early spring and you can have striking, flowering plants by the summer.

These popular herbaceous border plants will flower the second year after sowing, so it’s worth getting them in the ground too:

• Lupin

• Aquilegia

• Foxglove

DIVIDE PERENNIALS AND BULBS

Make more plants for free by dividing what’s already in your garden. Large perennials and groups of bulbs can become congested, which reduces their flowering.

Dig them up, split them and replant around the garden for more, and more vigorous, plants. Divide perennial plants in spring or autumn, and bulbs as soon as flowering is finished.

Article written by David Domoney

Source: How to Create a Herbaceous Border on a Budget (daviddomoney.com)