David Domoney reveals how to fill your garden with plants without spending a penny

The celebrity gardener shares his ultimate money-saving project in the garden

David Domoney has revealed an easy way to fill your garden or outdoor space with plants without spending any money. As much as we love browsing garden centres for new additions, pots and plants can seriously add up.

The horticulturalist and gardener shared the budget garden idea on this week's episode of Love Your Garden on ITV. As well as saving money in the garden by patiently growing younger plants, he talks through how to use 'the magic of nature' to get free plants

david domoney

(Image credit: Future PLC/Alamy)

'You can either buy a plant that's very big for instant impact,' begins David. He takes a large plant with purple flowers called Brachyscome, which is worth £23.

'Or, you can buy very small,' he says, showing a much younger, smaller Brachyscome sold for just £2.50. He comments that in just two months, it will grow to the same size as the larger plant, saving you over £20.

David Domoney's ultimate budget gardening tip

watering the garden tip

(Image credit: Future PLC)

David Domoney also had a tip for getting plants for free - because as much as we love a bargain, freebies are what we're really after. He explains that taking cuttings is a brilliant way to save money because it means you don't have to spend a penny on plants.

It's straightforward to do, and you can do it with many different varieties. David demonstrates his technique by taking a small cutting from a rosemary bush.

He takes a sprig about the size of your palm and removes some of the lower rosemary branches - the bits you'd usually chop up to season a dish. Next, he takes his secateurs and cuts the swelling part of the stem.

rosemary cutting

(Image credit: Getty)

'Here's the easy bit, I'm just going to drop them into a glass of water and leave them on the kitchen windowsill,' says David. 'Before you know it, I'm getting them to root.

'I then take these cuttings that have rooted in the glass and pot them up,' he explains. If you try this garden idea, it will take around a year for your small cutting to grow into a decent-sized rosemary plant.

It's an easy garden idea that's well worth trying if you want to do things as cheaply as possible. Will you be giving it a go?

Millie Hurst
Senior Content Editor

Millie Hurst was Senior Content Editor at Ideal Home from 2020-2022, and is now Section Editor at Homes & Gardens. Before stepping into the world of interiors, she worked as a Senior SEO Editor for News UK in both London and New York. You can usually find her looking up trending terms and finding real-life budget makeovers our readers love. Millie came up with the website's daily dupes article which gives readers ways to curate a stylish home for less.