. . . AND MAKE YOUR GARDEN EVEN GREENER

GIVEN the mix of toxic chemicals in plastics that can leach into the soil and contaminate your fruits and veggies, it makes sense to use as little plastic as possible when you garden...

IF YOU buy compost in bags, do clean and recycle them. If they can’t go in your household recycling system, you may be able to drop them at a community recycling centre.

AVOID buying bedding plants in polystyrene trays, as the trays are hard to recycle.

CHECK if your local authority recycling scheme accepts plastic plant pots or ask a garden centre if you can return them.

LOOK out for biodegradable coir pots ( thenaturalgardener.co.uk). These are made from renewable grain fibres.

BUY seedlings in moulded fibre pots and planters made from recycled paper.

SEW seedlings into paper egg cartons. When they sprout, cut them apart or plant them out in cell fibre seed trays (£1.99 for 12, cherry-lane.co.uk).

REUSE toilet paper tubes by making four even cuts about a quarter of the way up one side and folding them up to create the bottom of your seed pot.

MAKE seedling containers by rolling a long strip of blackand-white newspaper (about 4in to 5in wide) around the bottom of a concave-bottomed wine bottle, then fold and scrunch up the bottom.

IDENTIFY your plants with a lolly stick or a twig with an empty seed pouch on top.

VISIT labourandwait.co.uk for garden accessories.