Gardening: Simple joys on your own patch

Our great-grandparents swapped flowers such as dahlias that they had too many of with friends and family for plants they needed. Photo / Meg Liptrot

‘Borrowed’ seeds and cuttings trim costs of planting a garden.

The cottage garden is the ultimate in garden frugality. Back in Granny's day, gardens were not "designer" items - they were an exercise in self-sufficiency. These were productive gardens with stories, in which plants were often begged, borrowed or stolen. This is not as serious as it sounds. With a little know-how and a dash of creativity it is simple to get a garden free.

Today, backyard productivity is having quite a renaissance. Edible gardens are again commonplace and chooks and beehives are appearing, even in the most urban locations. Cottage gardens fit very nicely into this ethos. There is a need to reconnect with "real" life in this digital age. Many of us want to get in touch with a simpler way of life, even if it's just a small potted garden on a terrace.

Gardens were a necessity in my grandparents' day. My great-grandfather started the family business - a general store in Papatoetoe in the 1920s - where, in the early days, customers brought along containers and had them filled. No plastic, no waste. Families grew what vegetables or fruit they could at home, particularly during the years of the two world wars. My grandparents had chooks and even a goat.

Plants often came from a neighbour or a favourite aunt - or maybe an admired garden. In this way, cottage gardens can become valuable for the conservation of heritage plants, as many of these old favourites are not readily available anymore.

Perennial garden beds are really what a cottage garden is about and they are easily shared. Divide and rule is the key with these plants. Clumping perennials such as day lilies are easy to divide by digging up and prising apart a clump. Plant around the garden to bulk up your beds, and give some extras to friends.

Mat-forming groundcovers are other easy plants to divide and share. Most grow roots where stems touch the soil, and providing you dig up a piece with roots attached, you're good to go. Strawberries are super-easy to divide, as are clumping herbs. You can divide many cottage garden classics in spring such as penstemon, echinacea, alchemilla, achillea, helleborus, campanula, true geranium, members of the daisy family, alstroemeria and euphorbia.

Pelargoniums (what most of us used to recognise as geraniums), lavender and rosemary are easy to grow from cuttings. They are drought-tolerant and excellent fillers in cottage gardens.

Waste not want not

• Cottage gardens often feature re-used materials. Get creative with bricks to lay as stepping stones or turn broken concrete into crazy paving. Use simple pea gravel or shell paths on a base of compacted gravel and lay stepping stones into this.

• Collect broken crockery to use in mosaics. This ancient art form will liven up pavers, pots, tables or birdbaths. They make sweet presents, too. Glue pieces to a clean, dry surface with tile glue, let set, then apply exterior grout and wipe clean. Easy.

• Tie tree prunings together to make growing frames or tepees for runner beans and sweet peas. Peas like twiggy branches to grow up so their tendrils have something to latch on to.

• If you have shell or gravel paths in your garden, don't rush to weed them. Take a closer look for self-sown seedlings from your garden. In my garden, aquilegia, cerinthe and Italian parsley regularly self-seed in gravel paths. Pot up in a newspaper punnet and give to friends.

Cottage garden resources

Swap plants and seeds by taking part in your local seed-savers group, or join ooooby.ning.com and check out the groups' pages.

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Perennials, by Professor Marshall Craigmyle, includes photos of 1500 perennials, plus growing and propagation guidelines. It's a must-have.

Take a peek at inspiring gardens at the Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular, October 31-November 9. Special plants are often for sale.

Making cuttings

• Cuttings of perennials are often made from soft or semi-hardwood growth in late spring or summer. Use sharp secateurs sterilised with meths.

• Cut squarely beneath a leaf node or bud - the stem should be at least two nodes long. Trim off flower buds. Pinch off the lower leaves of stem. Cut the remaining upper leaves in half to reduce water loss.

• Dip the cutting into rooting hormone (optional), then insert half the stem into moistened, free-draining cutting mix (or make your own by adding sharp sand to seed raising mix). Put several cuttings in your pot at one time.

• Keep damp (not wet) in a warm spot out of direct sunlight. Create a mini glasshouse by covering pot with a clear plastic bag to keep moisture levels constant. And be patient.