There’s a saying: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” If you’re looking to create a stunning garden, adding some unique elements can make it stand out.
Upcycling is very popular in gardening. Many blogs, like Gardening Know How, share tips on how to make the most of those items you’d normally throw out rather than add to the landfills. You’d be surprised what you can put to good use in your green space.
We spoke with a few experts who gave tips on how to upcycle everyday items you might not think about.
Turn Old Household Goods Into Charming Planters
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Ward Dilmore, founder and head landscape designer at Petrus Landscaping, suggests using older items such as crates, buckets, baskets, and wine barrels as planters. He cautions, though, “to ensure all these items are free of food or chemical residues” beforehand. Dilmore also mentions that typical items such as “[w]ooden popsicle sticks [and] wine corks can be repurposed as plant markers or labels,” for all types of plants.
Gene Caballero, co-founder of GreenPal, says old tires work as “either raised beds or planters” and plastic bottles can help protect seedlings from pests and frigid temps when used “as DIY cloches.”
Create Support Systems
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Some plants, typically those that vine, need a support system such as a trellis, cage, or arch. If you don’t have one or don’t want to buy one, Dilmore says to repurpose old metal coat hangers by bending them into your desired shape. You could probably reuse them several times as needed and reshape them to fit our garden’s specific needs throughout the season.
Use Cardboard to Help Weed
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This tip also comes courtesy of Dilmore, who says, “[c]ardboard is a great resource for reducing weeds and reducing the labor required for it.” He recommends laying it “down as a base layer on top of weeds” and then applying your preferred planting mix on top of it to “creat[e] a new planting bed,” in a technique known as the “no dig” method.
Reduce cardboard waste and no need to weed the garden? Sounds like a dream come true.
Compost Kitchen Waste
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While composting may not be what you think of when talking about turning trash into treasure, it has many benefits for your garden, per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It helps enrich the soil and reduce the need for fertilizers and pesticides and it starts with literal trash from your kitchen, the food scraps you’d normally throw out.
Jeremy Yamaguchi, CEO of Lawn Love a company bringing high-tech solutions to the industry, said there are many uses for compost, including “as mulch, topdressing, and soil amendment to support plant growth and improve crops.” He recommends using citrus rinds, eggshells, nut shells, coffee grounds and tea bags, and stale bread to feed the compost.”
Caballero also recommends using egg shells “as an organic calcium source for plants” and notes they also “dete[r] slugs when spread around the base,” while coffee grounds work well for “supplying nitrogen to the soil.”
The next time you’re getting ready to toss something in the trash or recycling, give it a second look and see if you can find a place for it in your garden. Be choosy, of course, because you don’t want to turn it into your own landfill, but don’t be afraid to get creative either.
Read more:
March into Gardening: Seeds to Sow Now for a Vibrant Spring
No-Dig Gardening: A Simple, Smart Way to Grow More with Less Effort
