Garden centre - wallet survival - essential buys

[KirstieSparkle]

Finally off to the garden centre later, what are must buys and basic needs for while I'm there (can't go very often so need to make mostly it)
Obviously I need some soil, and a tray of some sort to put my seed trays in so they don't leak every where.

Think absolute complete novice, and why kinda things I need to get to help me start out, I've got all those pots but from comments I think I need to buy some more big ones?
Very excited but no idea what to get and I know I need to not go overboard especially as on a tight budget

Help and ideas massively appreciated
Kirst x

[AllInContainers]

Seeds and compost (MPC and seed compost), and maybe one (or two) of those windowsil propagators. That's it!

You can achieve a lot with those alone. You can get feed and other "maintenance" stuff later. Don't spend any more than absolutely necessary just yet because later in the year when the bug really bites you, you'll be wanting to buy EVERYTHING ... trees, plants, equipment, pots, you name it .... trust me on that

[GardenGayle]

A hand trowel will do a lot and twine is always useful but you can get these most places now. You don't need much to get started really

[JoeDaStudd]

For pots its worth asking in your local supermarket for flower buckets (the black or green plastic buckets the flowers sit in). Morrisons sell them 8 for 99p (well I got a stack of 27 for 99p last summer) every so often and other supermarket will either give them away (in ones and twos) or ask for a donation.
They are ~14l and ideal for growing most things in, just remember to drill out some holes.

Personally I would steer clear of buying seeds from a garden centre without they are reduced or have an amazing offer. Between real seeds and premier seeds you can more seeds delivered to the door for a lot less then a standard retail store.
Having said that Aldi had some great seed bundles (6 packets for £1.99 I think).

If your going down the DIY or frugal route you can save a lot just by using a bit of common-sense and out of the box thinking.
Plastic fruit punnets, yoghurt pots and toilet roll tubes make great starting pots, lolly sticks for markers, etc. My personal favourite is the Sainsburys fudge cake container it makes a great propagator as it comes with a plastic domed lid.

[GardenGayle]

If your wanting flower buckets, I got a load from my local Asda at valentines for free I just asked if there was any they wanted to get rid of and they gave me 30, apparently mothers day is another good time to ask. You just need to remember to drill holes for drainage

[KirstieSparkle]

Oooh ill ask the manager to keep flower pots for me then luckily (or unluckily) the coop are my landlords as they own the shopping centre.
I dot eat any grains or processed food so will have to encourage assistant to eat more bakery stuff so I get the pots lol

[RedThorn]

Wilko's great for 3"pots too

Browse the gc see what you like then search on the tinterwebby and here to see if there's cheaper places/ different ideas for the same thing

Do a search on toilet roll inners, believe it was zazen who pointed me in their direction and storage brilliant and easy and simples...

[KirstieSparkle]

Hahaha cooool! Tiny plant pots from toilet rolls!
So u can just bung the whole thing in the ground then?
Better call my cleaner and tell her not to bin the empty loo roll from studio toilets then :-)

[sparrow100]

Also check whether the garden centre has a pot recycling bin. Both my local ones do and I got masses of free pots from there - some really big ones too.

[Nicos]

Watering can with rose attachment perhaps?

Have a look at Lidl seeds to....and take a trip into Wilcox??they have tools at low prices???no need to buy very expensive ones to start with until you decide what will be most useful!

I couldn't live without my B&Q orange bucket, trowel ,and secateurs.

Have you thought where to store your tools.
Patio...you'll need to sweep up stuff....so a brush and shovel.and maybe rubble bags you can reuse to put in garden waste. What are you planning to do with that?

...just a few random thought!

Oh...and most important of all, something to sit on and enjoy your beautiful new garden when you have a break!

[Nicos]

S'cuse the predictive text!

[KirstieSparkle]

Oooh very helpful thank you!
I spose ill eventually need a drill and stuff to attach things to the walls
Never heard of this wilco place, will have to see where my nearest one is.
Not driving makes everything a massive pain in the arse as everything is miles away :-(

Determination though and l suppose I could keep tools in a box thing I have that I half fill with rabbit food nd bedding.
Any point in a little stand up shelf frame thing with covering over it that u zip open? It looks usefull and is £20

[KirstieSparkle]

:-) coop are going to save flower buckets for me.... And a friend is going to pick up some of the multipurpose compost from asda (3x 70L for £10)
Any idea roughly how much I need to fill these pots???

[Nicos]

Those shelf things have the nickname of 'blowaways' for that very reason.
You do need to be VERY aware that what ever you put up there doesn't blow off and land on top of someone, or a car below

Even the parasol is a liability and will need taking down when not in use

Will you need permission to drill into the bricks?

[AllInContainers]

It's difficult to guage scale, but at a guess I'd say the large pot on the far right is about 45 litres ... ish ... maybe. Any othe bids? You should be able to roughly calculate quantities from that