Experienced gardeners are planning for spring already, seed catalogues at the ready.

They are great at keeping costs down by reusing pots, tools and other items in their gardens.

The rest of us, we need a few pointers on how to be so economical and environmentally friendly.

Read again: Fourteen ways to start cutting plastic today

For instance, it’s easy to make your own seed pots using newspaper, egg boxes, the tubes inside loo rolls or paper towels, which reduces the use of plastic in the garden. YouTube has many videos showing how to do this.

Also, did you know that peat pots for seedlings are bad for the environment?

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Peatlands in beauty spots like the Peak District store carbon dioxide in ancient deposits of rotted vegetation and digging it up for our little pots helps release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Seed-sharing with friends and neighbours keeps costs down; sharing surplus produce is neighbourly and making your own compost is eco-friendly.

You could even share a garden or allotment with a friend and grow with each other.

Home-made compost is great for the garden and is also a very valuable place to encourage all sorts of insect life which provides a great feast for birds come spring when eggs are hatching and chicks are hungry.

You don’t have to give the council your food waste: you can put egg shells, tea leaves, coffee grounds, the odd sheet of newspaper and cardboard as well as all your veg peelings in your own compost.

Do be careful in spring when digging into the compost heap as there might still be a hedgehog slumbering there.

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If the digging is getting too much for you, watch this video on dig-free gardens youtu.be/XCAAL1saPzM or search YouTube for other sustainable gardening ideas.

Reuse those plastic bottles in the garden: cut off the shaped top and use the remaining bit to put over delicate seedlings to shelter them.

It’s like a mini greenhouse and the top part makes a great funnel.

Read again: Kitchen gardener Kathy Slack on becoming a pop-up restaurateur

Larger bottles can be used to grow salad vegetables. Cut out an oblong along the side, fill with growing medium, sow seeds and hey presto, a lovely salad box. Great for cut and come again leaves, radishes and spring onions.

And gardening keeps you fit and helps you feel good.

Happy planning for 2019’s garden.