GREEN FINGERS
I save £300 a year on brand new plants with little-known hack & my garden looks great all year round
Watch the video for more tips on how to make your garden look fab on the cheap
A PENNY-PINCHING garden lover has revealed how she saves a whopping £300 a year on garden plants, using a little known hack.
Lucie Nicola, 41, is obsessed with making her garden look fabulous, so much so that she spends hours every day tending to her precious plants.
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The model and soft-play business owner, who loves to get glammed up to do her gardening work, has spent around £6,000 on her garden but saves around £300 a year by buying dying plants from the yellow sticker aisle of her local garden centre, and bringing them back to life.
Lucie, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire also takes cutting and re-plants flowers to save money, and keep her garden blooming.
"The reduced plants are my thing - it's always good to get a bargain," she told SWNS.
"I'll dead head old plants, water it, nurture and bring it back to life.
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"I think when you grab a bargain, it's more rewarding than paying full price. Within the plants world, if I see anything reduced I'm automatically attracted to it.
"I'm sometimes walking out with a twig but I know what the potential is."
Lucie began to love gardening from the tender age of 7, when she became envious of her neighbours' garden.
She said: "My neighbour had an immaculate garden - I thought I couldn't wait to do it. That's where the passion comes from.
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"But it's trial and error - it's all self-taught.
"Not everything has been successful, but that's the beauty of gardening; it doesn't matter if plants don't take or they die because they're all different - no two gardens are the same."
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Lucie shared some helpful tips for making sure you garden always looks it's best, without breaking the bank.
She said: "If you're in a garden centre, always go to reduction sale rail.
"I love a yellow sticker.
"A bit of dead-heading, watering, and TLC, and you can bring it back to life.
Top 5 Spring Gardening Jobs
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Nick Grey, Inventor and CEO shared the tasks to crack on with as Spring arrives.
1. Clean your garden
Make sure to clear away all leaves, soil and plant debris from your patios and flower beds; this creates a healthier environment for new growth, especially as we get into the summer months. includes durable gardening gloves and safety glasses; perfect for comfortability whilst tackling those outdoor tasks.
2. Weeding
Early Spring is the best time to tackle weeds; if you can introduce some regular weeding into your routine, you can guarantee a tidy garden all year round.
3. Hedge maintenance
Spring is the ideal time to tidy up overgrown hedges and shrubs, as regular trimming ensures healthy growth and reduces pest issues. Using a tool like the can help to keep your greenery looking sharp and neat.
4. Composting
Starting a compost heap this spring is a pro-active, cost-effective way to harness nutritious soil for your plants and recycle organic waste that will benefit the overall health of your greenery and foliage.
5. Look after your lawn
Lawn care is hugely important in assuring your garden stays looking beautiful. Make sure to rake away any excess leaves and trim your grass routinely.
"Also buy perennials, which means they come back year after year.
"They are things that you plant, last the season, and then re-bloom.
"You can take cuttings from them and re-plant so you get multiple plants out of the one plant.
"Lavender is a great choice; hot lip salvia is beautiful, too.
"Know what you're planting, always look at instructions on plants and suss out how long you're getting out of it."
Lucie added that she also wants to challenge the notion that gardening is just for "old people."
She said: "The stigma of gardening is that it's for old people and it's not fun and trendy, but I really disagree with that and try to twist that - I'm so passionate about it.
"Gardening needs to be more fun and quirky - bring the fun into it!
"Take Nigella Lawson with cooking and make it sexy - that's my spin on gardening.
"I like to feel as beautiful as I can in my garden.
"People go to the gym in gym wear as it makes them feel better, so I apply the same philosophy to gardening.
"I lounge around the house in old clothes, but not in the garden; it's like a night out in my garden."
Lucie has even managed to tempt husband Andy, 47 into the garden, after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005.
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She said: "Where his illness has restricted him, gardening has given him some freedom.
"It's so lovely to see - someone said we're the Barbie and Ken of the gardening world because I'm glammed up and he's topless!"
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