Stretching the Dollar in the Garden

This is by far my favorite time of the year!  I love to see the new leaves emerge, the flowers bloom, and the birds nest.  Over the years my husband and I have tried to plan our landscape so that it has a good balance of plants that include trees, shrubs (both evergreen and deciduous), and ground covers.

Ground covers are a great way to fill in the gaps between trees and shrubs and they add a lot of interest to a garden.  Most of them can be divided to cut down on the cost especially if you have several areas that need that extra touch.  Here is what I do.

First I look for pots of plants that have multiple plants in them.  

Here you can see about three or four separate plants.

Next I shake most of the soil off of the roots which makes it easier to see what you are working with.

Divide the plants by using a shovel or trowel.

See, now I have three plants.

I shopped around to find the best price.  One garden shop charged $5.59 and the other charged $3.50, so needless to say, we went with the latter.  $10.50 for 10 plants, 3 pots,  is a very economical solution if you don't mind waiting a couple of months for results.  In a couple of months, the liriope will fill in nicely.

To keep grasses such as liriope neat looking, they need to be trimmed back in January/ February before the new growth appears.

Other favorite ground covers include:
creeping jenny
ajuga
mondo grass
periwinkle
ivy
pachysandra

I am sharing this with Finding Fabulous and The Inspired Room.