RHS-BBC Morning Live Budget-Friendly Garden

With households across the UK looking for ways to save money amid the cost of living crisis, the RHS and BBC Morning Live have joined forces to help keep the nation growing for their health and wellbeing this summer with a garden full of cost-effective tips and creative take-home ideas that won’t break the bank.
 
Designed by BBC Morning Live’s resident gardener Mark Lane, the garden contains tips on cost-effective ways to garden using household goods and equipment. The design makes the most of inexpensive and readily-available drought-tolerant plants such as Eryngium bourgatii Picos Amethyst, Armeria maritima ‘Splendens’ and Erigeron karvinskianus. Pops of colour are provided by plants such as Agapanthus africanus ‘Blue’, Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ and Astrantia major ‘Sparkling Stars Red’. 

The garden is brimming with recycled and repurposed materials such as scaffold boards, guttering and pallets, with pallets arranged vertically to create compost bays – another great way to save money in the garden.
 
The garden contains quirky elements such as a recreated TV set, the base of a desk chair repurosed to create a swivelling raised strawberry planter, and a vertical living wall in which herbs spill from wall-mounted mugs. Meanwhile, it’s full of flowers, fruit and vegetables such as kale, cabbages, chard and broad beans, showing that you don’t need a large space to feed the family.
 
There’s even produce that can be grown from food waste and cost-effective ways to reduce water use during dry summer months. The garden has also been designed to be fully accessible to help inspire gardeners of all abilities.