1.
A good first step is to take a look at our latest offers or even better, sign up for our newsletter so you never miss out on any future special deals - some of which are only available to subscribers.

2.
If your greenhouse is heated, do you really need to heat all of it? Thompson & Morgan's Andrew Tokely says that by hanging a plastic sheet across the middle you can reduce the space you have to heat, saving money on heating. And insulating with bubble wrap (with an old piece of curtain or something similar over the door) is also a great help.

3.
Another great idea is to invest in our ever-popular Paper Potter is an easy way to recycle old newspapers and make your own pots. When seedlings are ready to plant out, transplant them straight into the garden in their bio-degradable paper pots!.

4.
Did you know you can grow salad leaves such as Baby Leaf Salad right through the winter? You need never buy expensive bags of supermarket salad again!

5.
You can easily turn any old plastic bottle into a neat watering can with our Bottle Top Roses. Simply screw onto the bottle and use to water your seed pots or trays.

6.
Now is a good time to collect bare twigs for use later as pea or bean supports as they look more natural than plastic in the garden and they are free! And if you have a shredder you can make your own mulch.

7.
Don't throw away old egg boxes - they are great for chitting poptatoes.

8.
When choosing what to grow, take at a look at what is available in our value flower and vegetable seed and value plant and bulb ranges - there are some great bargains to be had.

9.
If you are growing your own vegetables, concentrate on the varieties which give the best value, either because they are expensive to buy in the shops, such as peppers or 'gourmet' potatoes like Charlotte and Pink Fir Apple or because they give a high yield - runner beans and Perpetual Spinach for example.

10.
Finally, don't waste money on gyms or sports, just get into the garden and start digging! It's great exercise and it costs nothing at all!

Here is a selection of our current customer money saving ideas

Elizabeth Otway of Godalming in Surrey has sent these great ideas: "I cut up old pairs of tights and stockings to use as soft-ties; they are ideal for tying in raspberries and other plants and even trees. They are soft but very strong, so give the support needed but without being abrasive or chaffing to the stems of you precious plants."

"Use seed heads as special Christmas decorations. Dill, alium, teasel and poppy all have great long lasting seed heads that can be used for added interest in the home during the winter months. Using coloured or metallic sprays you can create wonderful Christmas decorations in no time at all." We think these would look good all year round!

Andrea Moran writes with another use for old tights and stockings: "You can use old tights or stockings for storing onions. Put your onions in a leg one at a time, tying a knot in between each one so they don't touch. Then hang up in a cool dry place. When an onion is required, simply cut below a knot with scissors, leaving the rest in place." We think this is an excellent idea if you have comparitively few onions to store. For larger quantities, take a look at our Onion Bags.

Rachel Bould suggests a use for old woollens: "I cut up old jumpers that have started to unravel and use them for hanging-basket liners in the summer. You can make or enlarge holes in them for planting into and they still hold in the compost very well. The birds often reuse the jumpers again when they peck out strands for their nests from my winter baskets."

And a way to recycle plastic bottles from Iain Beveridge: "Cut the bottom off and they make great mini cloches and keep insects off."

From Marie Clare: "Save all of your old tins (of tomatoes / beans etc), wash them and drill small drainage holes in them and use them as pots for seedlings. It’s nice to see a little tomato plant sprouting out of an old tin of chopped tomatoes!"

Marie-Therese Kielty says: "Stick in a twig beside a sprouting bindweed. it will climb up it and be easier to effectively target with selective weedkiller."

Sally Annely suggests: "A bulb planter works equally well for planting out pots that are 3 - 4 inch diameter, such as runner beans, courgettes, broad beans, sweetcorn etc that have all been started off in a greenhouse. Make the holes using the bulb planter, and pop the pot grown seedlings in. Minimum root disturbance, and much quicker."

From Angie Dundas: "If you pop the plastic washing machine balls on top of a garden cane, the rattling noise scares birds away."

From Robert Pearson, a great use for all that polystyrene packaging we get: "Break-up polystyrene packaging (thus re-cycling it) and put into the bottom of garden tubs - this way you don't use as much compost and also the tubs are lighter and easier to move around the garden."

Thea McGovern says: "A slick of vaseline around plant pots rims keeps slugs off - cheaper than copper bands!"

Paula Jenkins says: "We have big problems with squirrels digging in our pots, in particular when we sow coriander. We found using a light-weight wire mesh, for example from a disposable BBQ, tying it over our pots has stopped the squirrel damage and the shoots just grow through the mesh."