Hosta

A perfect sunny day in Hackney made me feel compelled to plant several packages of seeds I have received from my friend, and to re-pot small plants I think could do with a bit more space for the summer.

Today was mostly about taking care of plants that haven’t costed me anything. The seeds were a present, the small carob plants were grown from free seeds as well and by buying climbers from the Guardian Garden Centre, like anyone else who orders a certain amount from them, I received some free bulbs.

As I normally end up with a rather messy terrace when re-potting plants, today I used this new gardening sheet.

It is great and comes as a flat throw, with press studs on all four corners. You press them together and the sheet turns into a self-contained square box in which to neatly re-pot plants.

[Carob seedling about to be re-potted]

[and freshly planted seeds]

I added convolvolo, cherry tomato, bean, zinnia and cosmos seeds and finally moved the lemon plant outside.

There is also a random ivy seedling that has started to grow in one of our pots on the terrace. A nice surprise!

If you have read my blog for some time, you know that each year I make a point of having one flower bed that does not cost anything. So this year, we have two.
You can easily create your own, by looking around your house, garden shed or even in your neighbourhood. Many people throw pots and plants out when they move, so its fairly easy to bring some home. Recently our neighbours moved out leaving some solar-powered garden lamp and a rather unsightly pot behind. The pot is broken on one side, but filled with soil and free Freesia bulbs from the garden centre, the broken part will soon be covered by leaves.