Old Dryer Sheets to Cover Holes
- Overlap old dryer sheets at the bottoms of containers, before filling with soil mixtures, to prevent soil leakage and waste. Old Coffee Filters work also.
- —Guest Sandra Cerda
Free Lumber
- I re-use the lengths of timber that are used for advertising houses for sale. In the UK they tend to be about 2X2 and between 6 to 8ft long. They are left in the street once a property is sold. I have used them for building my green house and other structures in my allotment
- —Guest vic offredi
Peeled Fruits, Vegetables and Weeds
- I add the peeled skin of fruit and vegetables, mix them with harvested weeds and bury them in the soil. As a result, soil not only get manure but also good yield. It keeps the soil moist, cool and prevents evaporation-transpiration losses.
- —Guest Sultan Muhammad
Office Paper Mulch
- We don't recycle office waste in SC., so I use shredded paper for mulch. You can cover the white shredding with fallen leaves or other mulch if you mind the look. They add no cost and are very effective preventing moisture loss.
- —Guest Rosa Fang
Recycling a Tree Stump
- When a storm blew my old plum tree down, I was left with large a stump; it was too big to burn. The center was rotten, so I hollowed it out, and now I am using it for a planter.
- —Freilah
Plastic Soft Drink Cups
- Disposable plastic soft drink cups can be reused for growing seedings or small plants. Just punch a hole at the bottom with a power drill, put a small piece of tissue in and fill it with potting soil it should be ready for use.
- —Guest Kam Fok
Recycle (plastice used medical tubes)
- Need ties? Try used medical breathing tubes, they are soft & carry air. One can poke holes in them for watering & they can be used for many different ways in a home garden. My hubby is a handicap VA Vet & has COPD & must breath thru these tubes at night. So I have plenty of them & will not throw them away. Use your "thinking" cap for ways to use them, saves money in the long run. Enjoy! Marilyn
- —Guest MARILYN C.
Instant Composter
- Instead of building or making a compost pit made of lumber or a large drum, try using your old or used chicken wire. I have been using chicken wire and it is very easy to make. Just get yourself a 2m width and 1m length chicken wire, roll it to form a cylindrical body and attach ends of wire on the body at least 3-4 squares beyond the intersection, make it stand and voila! You have a compost pit in an instant. you can make this in less than half an hour, no other materials to be needed. This material makes it easy for you to observe what is going on with your compost, and address what is needed like turning, too much water or if it is too dry or needs watering.
- —Guest rowellyn sales
Regardless of who won the election...
- You can use up those wire-framed signs leftover after every campaign, cluttering the landscape. Peel off the candidate’s name and place the stiff, U-shaped wire frame next to a stand of leaning perennial stalks. The wire blends in while it holds up the plants against wind and weather. Frames are reusable for many seasons. Three frames can be fastened to each other in a triangular corral, making for a tidy clump of perennials.
- —Guest waking dream
Combating Slugs and Weeds
- Use crushed dried egg shells to keep slugs off plants and add calcium to the soil also. Use newspapers between row to walk on and preserve moisture as well as keep down the weeds
- —Guest ginger
Old Wheelbarrow
- I am using an wheelbarrow for a planter. Adds character. To remove aphids from plants I spray soapy water on my plants instead of using chemicals.
- —Guest Vickie
Defining My Garden
- My spouse had an old gazebo that was broken so We used the four corners to outline the end of the vegetable garden he dug for me and now I have useful corners that can be used as bean and pea stakes as well as having something pretty to look at when I hang the flower baskets on the ledges
- —Guest dont throw out the corners
Mulching with Trimmings
- I cut the grass and the weeds, then I spread them to my small shamba (vegetable garden). The grass and weeds prevent new weeds from sprouting and kill the weeds already existing. The killed weeds become manure. Mulching also controls the high rate of evaporation. I then plant the seedlings I prefer for that period and I get good yields for it. [Note: Make sure the trimmed weeds do not have seed heads on them.]
- —Guest mary
Zip-lock Bag Dryer
- I filled a dish pan with sand (live in Florida) stuck in bamboo pieces, which grow wild here, (approx 2 ft. long) and placed balls of plasticine clay (the air-dry type) on the up-end of the bamboo. I made T-shapes, polo stick shapes and triangles. Let the shapes dry a few days. I hang my newly-washed baggies upside down on these.The triangles held the bottom of the bags open the best, enhancing the drying. A bag garden, unique piece of art, and $$$ saver, as well as recycling tool in one !
- —Guest Forest
Packing Peanuts and Recyling Pots
- Packing peanuts add air and hold moisture in lower layers of containers. I use nursery pots that can't be recycled as the bottom layer in containers that are deeper than annual roots will need.
- —Guest hollya 11
