What's Your Latest Garden Related Bargain?

I've seen a number of threads about and so I thought I'd start one where everyone could post about there latest gardening related bargain

I picked up a copy of "Rhododendrons of The World" by David G Leach for £5 at the Christian Aid Week book sale today and barley missed out on a copy of Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family: Plants If the Arum Familyby Deni Brown for £4 :gaagh:

so whats your latest bargain?

 

I've just received my order of 60x 50 litre sacks of mushroom compost, delivered, for £156. That works out at £2.60 per sack. AND it came on two pallets instead of one, so now I can botch up a small temporary decking area once I clean up the pallets. I know, I know, the timber used for pallets is generally too poor quality for decking, but it only has to last for a few months until I've done the rest of the garden up, then I'll build a more permanent decking area.

Better still, I got about half a tonne of sharp sand/grit, for the cost of however much diesel it takes to do the mile or so detour to my mate's house on the way home.

 

I bought four trays of 20 summer bedding plants - petunias, lobelia, geraniums and verbena from Aldi. All were healthy, well rooted plants and for the money (£2.79) a tray I thought they were a real bargain.

 

Recent visits by various offspring, have left my supply of salad leaves sorely depleated, the next lot aren't ready and the subsequent sowing are mere babies. Wandering round a certain 'shed', I spied some half-grown lettuce plants (8 in a strip for £1.48). Poor little things hadn't seen water since heaven knows when, so I picked up two strips, took 'em to the checkout and said 'You aren't really going to charge full price for these are you?' The girl ummed and ahhed, couldn't find a responsible grown-up to ask, decided she'd offer a 10% discount, at which point the man behind me said, 'Judging by the state of them, you should give those away'. Relieved to have had the decision made for her, that's exactly what she decided to do! A bit of tlc and, although I lost a couple, within a week I have a very nice interim supply of salad leaves.

Thought ..... since I got them for nothing - can they really be described as a 'bargain'?

 

I was running short of potting compost earlier this week and thought I'd have to get 4 bags from Wickes in order to get the multi-save of 4 for £13 (£3.25 each) despite needing no more than 2 bags to finish everything this year.

By the entrance were 2 damaged bags reduced to £2 each - so even cheaper than the multisave and nothing left lying around until next spring.

Called in at Homebase on the way back for a look around and found several ridiclously expensive packs of 'Jamie Oliver' BBQ Herb Collections reduced from £7.99 to 50p each because a couple of plants in each pack were dead/dying.

Somehow we ended up of with 2 packs with everything intact (Sage, Coriander, Thyme, Oregano, Mint & Rosemary in each pack) for 50p each! Plus got 7 Cambridge strawberries at 25p each. Anything we don't need will go to a local charity plant sale.

 

I found a red moth orchid with a couple of flowers fading and some bark fallen out reduced from £15 to £5. Very good price considering it had more buds and was in a 12cm pot. Also found a sensitive plant for £1, and a passion fruit for £5, but thats less of a bargain, it was only reduced to half price.

 

Just as a BTW - what is it with Homebase and Jamie Oliver? I know it's all in the name of product endorsement (as though he needs the money!), but I thought he was a chef, now suddenly, you can't move in Homebase without it having his wretched name on it - herbs, veggies, growbags, fruit, compost - and, because it's got his name on it, it is as Scrungee says, ridiculously (over)priced. I wouldn't mind, but what exactly does JO know about gardening - other than how to make a fast buck from it? :gaagh:

 

I think this was a bargain. I bought a Ryobi strimmer, with free hedgetrimmer attachment for £99 from Screwfix. I've been doing my research, watching what strimmers go for on ebay and this seemed a good deal. Well, the second one was anyway.

When I tried to assemble the first one I picked up, I discovered that the bolt that holds the strimmer head in place was missing. So it was back to Tunbridge Wells to get a replacement. As we now live on the coast, this was a 50 mile plus round trip, so maybe not so much of a bargain? However, it seems to be a good machine and with a lot more nooks and crannies to keep tidy, a necessary purchase.

Chris

 

You forgot about the JO BBQs.

Had another look around the reduced plants whilst my wife & daughter were clothes shopping and bought 4 ten packs of plants in a dreadful state for 25p each (marked down from approx £3 each). I had a 15% discount voucher from a mag I subscribe to and I'll get 30 plants out of them for 85p outlay, and after some potting up + TLC they're being taken to a neighbour's charity plant sale a few weeks together with some of my own. Better than putting 85p in a collection tin/envelope in my opinion.

 

Birdnest box

A birdnest box. Why cheap? Because I had some old wood lying around so decided to make one.
Have a family of Blue tits in residence as I type!
Did my bit for Mother Nature.
Satisfied Fonz!

 

You can't beat a good pallet I always say! Give it a good sanding and a couple of coats of Wickes' creocote and it will last for flippin' ages. My cold frame and the back step onto the patio began life as pallet boards.

Got an assorted bag of goodies at Wilko's during the week. A couple of hollyhocks, 3 phlox, 2 echinops [ and a partridge in a pear ~ no, it's too early for that isn't it! ]... a dozen 6 inch plastic pots, some seed trays, their own brand weedkiller spray, brussel sprout and brocolli seeds and a bar of chocolate. All for just short of 15 quid.

 

I always have a camera on me and whilst at the garden centre take pics of their expensive bird boxes, tables, etc. and then make it myself back at home, or start looking in skips for the stuff I'll need like a few roofing slates, etc.

 

I bought a daylily off ebay last Autumn 'Brown Witch' for £6.80, have seen it for sale in a catalogue for £45!!!!

 

Popped in to Home Bargains today and found boxes full of climbers; original price £2.99 but marked down to £1.69!!, they are all young plants but very healthy (in our store they are anyway). Available are various clematis, red flowered jasmine, white, purple and the common passion flower, potato vine, virginnia creeper, various honeysuckles etc...

I bought 2 clematis, 1 honeysuckle & a potato vine ......I was tempted by the red flowered jasmine, but wasn't sure of it's hardiness??

They've also got decent looking rain butts in with taps for £14.99, they're not massive but look worth the money...

 

20 8" canes for a quid,