How to create a herbaceous border on a budget (2024)

By David Domoney|2023-11-13T12:31:21+00:00May 5th, 2020|

Share the story

114.3K

14.3K

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. Theseare 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

Save the seeds

This is a money-saving no-brainer. You’d be amazed how many seeds you can harvest every autumn. The trick is to wait until the plant is just about to release them – take seeds too early and they won’t be viable.

Collect seeds from your existing garden plants as well as the wild. Ask friends and neighbours to donate any spare seeds they have, or arrange a seed swap so you get a wider range of plants for free! Or look out for local seed-swapping schemes and gardening groups.

Store seeds in a dry, airtight container over winter. And remember to label all the packets – there is no way you will remember which is which come spring.

Self-seeders

Make your herbaceous border low-maintenance as well as low-cost with self-seeders. These plants freely disperse their seeds every autumn, spreading around the border without your help. Think of them as eternal annuals – you only need to buy them once and they come back every year.

Self-seeders are great for an informal planting style, because they settle into a natural order where each variety will grow in the spot it likes best.Here are a few great options:

• Papaver rhoeas (common poppy)

• Aquilegia

• Angelica archangelica

• Digitalis purpurea

• Myostis sylvatica (forget-me-not)

• Verbena bonariensis

• Eryngium giganteum

• Foeniculum vulgare ‘Giant bronze’

• Lunaria Annua (honesty)

• Chrysanthemum parthenium

Divide perennials and bulbs

Spring is on its way, see my post on spring pollinators:

Spring pollinators

Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

Pinterest Board

David Domoney

David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.