Perennials are the Frugal Gardener’s Dream. They come back year after year without re-planting. Your yard can look great without having to grow (or Buy!!) new plants every year.

Besides starting your own plants from seeds you can grow your own perennials, and other perennials plantings. In many cases it is VERY easy. Plants that grow in spreading clumps, that grow off-set bulbs, or fleshy tubers are easy to divide. Vine plants like grapes, raspberries and many roses would spread in nature by the tips of the vines rooting in the soil to make new plants. Strawberries spread by growing runners with a new plant on the end. You can fill your yard very easily with perennials grown this way. For more complicated types of plant propagation like growing shrubs and trees from hardwood cuttings go to a wonderful site devoted to just this subject
www.FreePlants.com
It is a site full of easy plain English directions for growing plants from rooted cuttings. On the other hand, this article will deal with some of the easier ways to increase your perennials Division, Bulb and Tubers Division, Tip Rooting and Runners. In this way you can make a single purchase of a perennial and then divide it when you get it home into several plants!

ROOT DIVISION:

Plants that naturally grow in clumps can be divided to make new plants. Plants you may be familiar with are things like:
Bergamot also called Bee Balm
Mints
Lemon Balm
Thyme
Hostas
Lavender
Mums

Any plant that spreads by a clump of matted roots can be turned into Lots of new plants by clump division. You simply saturate the clump with water, and dig it up. Then keeping the growing end upward, pull the clump into pieces with several growing buds on it. Each of these baby clumps can be planted and will within a year or so with good care form nice big healthy clumps of their own. Every third year or so Clumping plants need to be divided this way to keep the plants healthy.

An example would be dividing mums. Lets say in the Fall you like lots of late color in your yard with perennial hardy mums, but the $5 to $10 dollar a large pot cost would break your budget. This year you can buy just a few pots of mums and use marigolds grown from seed and covered at night for Autumn color. But BEFORE you plant those pots of mums you soak them with water and pull off clumps to go in the other permanent sites in the yard you have picked out. Plant in a hole filled with < a href=" https://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/other.html" rel='nofollow'>good compost and keep well watered and feed all year. NEX YEAR you will have mums all over your yard –FREE!

BULB DIVISION:

Without being aware if it, you most likely have been doing bulb division for years. You divided cloves of garlic for cooking. Any bulb that grows baby bulbs off to the side can be bulb divided as simply as dividing a clove of garlic. Bulbs you may be familiar with are:
Garlic
Chives
Tulips
Daffodils
Lilies

All grow off shoot bulblets on the sides of the big bulb which can be periodically removed when the greens begin to wither after blooming. Just dig up the bulbs and pull off the off sets. Replant the large bulbs in their permanent location with a good dash of compost and bone meal or crushed eggs shells. Take the bulblets and place them in their new locations with the same amendments. Some lilies also grow tiny baby bulbs on the stems. These can be planted and will grow into new plants too!

TUBER TRIMMING:

If you’ve grown a potato from a eye on the tuber. Then you’ve already know how this work. Take any tuberous root and cut off an "eye " with a good chunk of root and plant. For the garden challenged, an "eye" is a tiny growing crown on the tuber that will grow a new stem. They are easy to spot on the tuber often having tiny sprouted leaves.

TIP ROOTING:

The tips of climbing rose vines, grapes, brambles like blackberries, Dutchman’s Pipe, and most other perennial vines can be grown by tip rooting. Simply scrap one side of the vine tip, dip in rooting hormone if you like, and plant in the ground. Most will grow nicely without the rooting hormone, but it does speed up the process. A new rooted plant will grow up from the tip and can be replanted or potted up for a gift.

RUNNERS:
The best know plant to grow "runners" is the strawberry plant. A few strawberry pants will very quickly grow lots of runners –many more than you will need to "fill-in" a row. Place small pots under the off-sets and let them root. The move the new plant to its desired location. You can very quickly have a wonderful strawberry bed by potting up the runners for new plants.

Have fun gardening! Check out these other garden articles at frugal living.

How Does Your Garden Grow?
https://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8941.asp

Make Your Cheap Pots for Gardening (with free seed list)
https://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art20306.asp

And here is a list of Discount Garden sites to buy your "starter stock" of perennials.

DIRECT GARDEN
DirectGardening.com - Use special coupon # G5666 for 3 free Peacock Orchid Bulbs with any purchase!

Michigan Bulb and Plant:
Free $20 off bulbs, perennials, and trees!

buy one get one free!


free shipping


Spring Hill:
Free $20 off premium bulbs, plants and trees!

Gurney Seed and Nursery:
Click Here to Save $20 on Internet Specials

Take $20 Off any $40 Order!

CLICK HERE for FREE $20

Henry Fields Nursery:
Click here for $20 off any order of $50 or more at Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Co!


10 off $30 Purchase

For more ideas Check out these Frugal Living Books!
Complete Tightwad Gazzette
The Complete Tightwad Gazzette

Declare Your Finanacial Independence
Declare Your Financial Independence

Complete Cheapskate
Mary Hunt's Complete Cheapskate

Miserly Moms
Miserly Moms

You Can Afford to Stay Home With your Kids
You can Afford to stay Home WIth your Kids