Creating a colorful garden cheap and easy

Everyone dreams of having a colorful and attractive garden. Nonetheless, if I tell you that you could have a garden under two dollars would you believe me? Not just any garden, a colorful and attractive one too. Maybe it is possible here India. Well you may not have a pot of full grown, healthy looking plants, but within a month you could have a whole bunch of bushy colorful plants like these that I have showcased here. In this post I write about how I started my colorful garden.

The cost of starting a garden especially if you want a colorful could be very expensive. Buying plants from a nursery could be very expensive, even cheap plants when fully grown and bushy is sold for a good price. Starting your own plants from seeds could be really cheap, however, it takes time to grow and the rate of germination is another question to consider. The next best option is to consider growing them from cuttings.

Choice of plant is also very important. I chose to buy cuttings of coleus which are easy to grow and very colorful as well.
I bought the cuttings from a trusted seller online from whom I've bought other plants earlier. I got a bunch of 16 cuttings for Rs.150 a little less than $2. The cuttings were well packed so they were viable even after four days of travel, a good reason why we need to buy from trusted sellers. They did look a bit tired so I left them for a couple of hours in a bowl of water to which I had added a tablet of Aspirin and a teaspoon of Epsom salt.

I planted the cuttings in some slightly water retaining yet well draining soil. I actually added some cocopeat to cactus soil. This kind of soil is important for root growth and healthy plant development. Within twenty days the plant showed good vertical growth, at this point I pruned the plant tips a good three inches and used the pruned tips to grow more plants.

Pruning the tips encourages the plant to produce side shoots and become bushy. Watering at regular intervals and feeding the plants with a balanced fertilizer every fortnight helps the plant to become healthy and grow steadily.

The trick to making coleus look full and healthy is to snip the tips every few days. Nip every flower-bud as they appear on the plant. These plants are short lived (4-6 months) is so it is important to propagate as many plants as possible to keep your garden colorful throughout the year. I often plant the pruned tips in the same container to make it appear full and beautiful.

It's important not to let the plant grow tall, so keep it at a height of one to one and half feet and retain the shape. The stems of these plants are soft and store a lot of water, yet when the soil becomes dry the plant shrivels up and dies very quickly, so it is crucial not to over water and yet keep it moist always. Consistent watering is the key to a healthy plant growth apart from manuring and pruning.

The only pest that I have seen attack these plants are the mealy bugs. In my experience this occurrence is rare and happens only when the plants gets too old or do not get sufficient nutrition. This makes coleus one of the easiest ornamental plants to grow in the garden.

Old plants need to be removed to avoid spreading the pests around. It is easy to recognize old plants, the stems gets woody and breaks easily. The softer new growth can be used for propagation of new plants.

These plants require about 6-8 hours of direct sun. Sunshine is what brings out the color in the leaves. Even greens take on a vibrant hue, the pinks and reds look brilliant and beautiful with adequate light. Lack of sufficient sunshine make the plant look dull and often times very dowdy.

Coleus are easy to maintain plants I hardly spend much time in caring care for them once they mature. They are colorful and attractive and make your garden the talk of the town.

I hope this was useful to you, thanks for your support. Have a wonderful day!

All images used in this post belong to me.