ALDI Thursday 24/02

Aldi have a lot of gardening related items in store today.

Growbags, compost, various hanging baskets, veg starter plants (just bought 8 asparagus crowns) . Perrenial bulbs (includes root cuttings), summer flowering bulbs, Veg feed, tomato feed, fish blood and bone, 4ft canes, gloves, capiliary matting, cold frames, planters and probably some things I've forgotten. All at bargain basement prices.

Steve...

 

Thanks Steve - its always nice to be allerted to these things - unfortunately no Aldi very close.

The older and poorer and meaner I get, the more I resent paying large prices. :D At best you only get the same as someone else who has paid half, and at worst you could have wasted the whole lot. A couple of years ago I saw a nice unusual shrub Polygala myrtifolia in a pot about two feet high. They wanted £45 for it - no way (although I did like it). A year later I bought a smaller one from a nursery for about £4. But even that died overwinter. I knew it wasn't hardy so I bought it inside the house, but with tender plants, you also have to get the light and watering right as well as the temperature - I obviously didn't.

This time I am having a go from a packet of seed.

Having had my rant, I will admit that if you are very keen on some things like getting a specific named Brugmansia cutting, which must come through the post from somewhere like Germany because you are never going to see it at your local garden centre - it will cost money. I like to think that all my savings will go towards something like that. But even those I am growing from seed at the present. Does Aldi do them?

 

Steve - thanks for the posting , I will drop Mrs H off in town tomorrow and have a scout around Aldi.

Loofah , excellent idea . Admin , could we have a bargain alert section or sticky ? What do other members think ? We could post the best of web and retail offers and save a penny or two

 

Got to love Aldis

I picked up 4 bags of their compost. These are 40ltr bags.

3 bottles of tomato feed, £13 for the lot.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting a bargain hunting tip Steve. Always good to hear of something going at a knock down price. Especially when most folk are counting the pennies.

I know just what you mean Peter. I have seen some beautiful plants at a local garden centre and been staggered at the price of them. I should imagine that I am not the only person put off by these costs, especially other novice gardeners. I walk away from expensive plants, sometimes try and find seeds to have go myself. Trouble is, where do you stop?

I have my own ideas about finding bargains but I won't hijack a good thread, I'll start another one.

Chopper.

 

Aldis lidl and poundland (and others) all offer every year "cheap" gardening products, thats cheap to buy and not necessarily cheap as in rubbish. Ok, its not specialist stuff mostly for example a geranium is a geranium..not a named variety, or a choice either. But it is a plant at a cheap price for someone who wants a few cheery flowers.

I do not have a poundland or Lidl near me, just the aldis and some of their product is quite good, growbags for instance..£1.29 each, cut in half and turned on end will grow two tom plants..bargain and I have done this the last three years. The asparagus crowns I just bought where a named dutch F1 hybrid with a good track record. You pick and choose what you want but year on year they are getting better.

I'll look forward to your topic Chopper.

Steve...

 

Cheers, will head down after work.
Focus have 5 bags 20L Arthur blowers top soil for a tenner this weekend.
Chucked all 5 on my sandy bed and 50L compost, still not great.

Cheers
D[hr]
Ps, the missus went nuts, she'd just changed the sheets...

Sorry, hunger delirium.