A SAVVY gardening fan has revealed her simple hack to restore ‘dead’ supermarket plants to their very best within days.
Kirsty bagged two pots of pretty fuchsias in Sainsbury’s for just 5p each last week.
The flowers were originally priced at £2 but had been heavily reduced as they became wilted and withered.
Rather than let them go to waste, Kirsty rescued them from the outdoor sale rack and aimed to revive them.
Posting on the Garden Makeover Ideas on a Budget Facebook page, which boasts 625,000 members, she said: “I came across some Fuchsia reduced to 5p in my local Sainsburys.
“I ran the tap over them when getting home then sat them in a bowl of water for an hour then watered them ever few hours after that.
“The following day, I could already see improvement. I continued to water a few times throughout the day.
“[On] day three I removed any already dead parts and decided it was time to put them outside.
“The one on the right started to develop some new growth, this was the one I wasn’t overly sure would survive when picking it off the shelf.
“Today they are thriving. I’m in absolute awe at the transformation all in four days.”
And social media users have been left open-mouthed at her green-fingered skills.
“You certainly have the knack! Well done”, one gushed.
A second wrote: “Inspiring!! I’m going to give it a go too – thanks.”
A third echoed: “You have did a great job of reviving them they look good as new.Well done.”
“Will give this a go too, save myself a lot of money”, chimed in a fourth.
A fourth joked: “I CAN’T even keep healthy plants alive.”
While a fifth sighed: “Sad and annoying how some supermarkets neglect plants, just need watering you got a bargain.”
Kirsty isn’t alone with her ‘dead’ plant project either, as a supermarket employee revealed he does the same.
He said: “I work for a supermarket and I bring loads home. I have a good success rate.
“I soak them in an old rain filled boat I have for a few hours, pop them in the dark for 12+hours, remove all the dead and dying bits, then repeat.
“It can be fun bringing home a load of ill looking plants.”
Doing up your garden to enjoy on warm and sunny days needn't cost the earth.
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to get a top deal on items for the garden…
You can bag big savings on plants, shrubs and flowers, as well as gardening tools and furniture.
Many retailers have flash sales across entire seasonal ranges – often these promotions tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout.
Sign up to mailing lists of your favourite brands and you’ll be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
Use a price comparison site to search out the best value items.
And keep a close eye on the specialbuys at Aldi and middle of Lidl drops which drop a couple of times a week and usually mean great value seasonal items for your outdoor areas.
If you are not in a hurry to buy an item, try adding it to the shopping cart online and leaving it for a couple of days.
Sometimes big brands will try to tempt you into the sale by offering you a discount.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying.
It’s especially worth using sites such as Topcashback, Quidco and app Jamdoughnut when buying bigger ticket items such as garden furniture as you’ll get a nice kickback.
