It’s the time of year when those of us in gardening mode are looking for smart, effective ways to save money at the nursery. We all know that feeling of seeing the bill at the end of a garden-center shopping adventure. Everyone seems to spend a bit more (or a lot more) than they intended. This video shows how to keep more of that hard-earned cash in your pocket by getting four plants for the price of one.

Learn how horticulturist Monty Don, host of Gardeners’ World (available on Britbox.com) splits specific perennials straight from the nursery into pieces and repots those plants. This gets you several plants ready for transplanting into the garden in a month or less.

Monty highlights what to look for in a plant at the nursery to determine whether it is ready to be divided right away. Perennials with fibrous root systems, like geums (Geum spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9) and ajuga (Ajuga spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9) are perfect for such division. Solid-rooted plants, like hosta (Hosta  spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), are also good candidates for this type of propagation.

For some varieties, simply using your hands to pry the plants apart will do the trick. For others, a soil knife is more appropriate.

You’ll also learn a few tricks to ensure success, like selecting the right potting soil for your transplants and removing any flower stems so the plant can focus all of its energy on reestablishing a hearty root system.

Getting four (or more) plants for the price of one may seem too good to be true, but with Monty’s guidance you’ll learn how to become a master at first-year plant division.

Read about more ways to save money at the garden center here.

Learn more about the science behind plant division here.

Click here to watch Gardeners’ World on Britbox with your 7-day free trial