Is your garden brimming with plants ?

Question

and do you find it hard to give some away even if you have 100 of the one plant ? My garden is over-crowded, although its small. The plants could grow better if they were spaced out well and if the trees were not scattered along the herbaceous borders. Its not like I can chop the trees down but what can I do with this.

Answer 1

I have 2/3 of an acre, and it's still brimming with plants.  Sometimes I'm afraid to give plants away because I'm worried the ones I have will die and not return, so I plant them in several places.  My orange daylilies are in 7 different flowerbeds, for instance.

Another poster mentioned Freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/.  This an excellent way to share your plants.  I have given away, and received, many plants using Freecycle.

You just have to take a deep breath and thin your plants out.  Just like people, plants don't do well if they're crowded; they get stressed and nutrient-starved and unattractive.

Answer 2

If you are blessed with an over-abundance of plants, you could do a couple of things, depending on your situation.  

You could run a free ad on Craigslist or Freecycle letting people know what you have available, and offering to let them have what they want to dig up.  Many people would be happy to do the work if you offer them the plants for free, and you would be re-cycling something that would be a blessing to them in their gardens.

Or, if you are looking for certain items yourself, you could offer your plants up for trade....hand-crafted items, pottery, other goods, etc. that some people may have extras of themselves that they would be more than happy to trade out for plants.   This would be a win-win situation for both of you in such a case.

Answer 3

Yes my garden is brimming with plants, and yes I do not like to give any away. selfish I suppose. But in your case you would be far better off to plant only what is sufficient for the space you have got. Trees enhance the flower bed and provide shade, so what you need to do is some field work. you need to find plants which will thrive well in shade or part shade, like Impatiens, bulbs like crocus,  or couple up with Rhododondrons, but do not chop those precious trees down

Answer 4

You can divide the plants and get many more plants out of them.  You can either give them to a friend or sell them.  Most perennials have to be divided every few years and trees and shrubs should be pruned on an as needed basis.

Answer 5

Here in AZ we can't sell plants unless we are licensed, even plants we grow in our garden.  But we can give them away.  Our local garden club is a great source for giving away excess plants and/or seeds.

Your plants would thrive if they were given more space to grow, especially the perennials that expand from the root ball.

And yes, my garden is brimming with all kinds of flowers.  I planted yellow heliopsis and they have multiplied so fast I had to give them away.  They were crowding out my salvias and lavenders.