How to make your garden a plastic-free zone
IT’S estimated that 500 million plant pots and seed trays are sold each year, the majority of which are sent to landfill or incinerated.
Few garden centres offer recycling or reuse schemes at present, although you can check at Recycle Now (recyclenow.com/ local-recycling) to see if your council recycles plant pots.
Plastic gardening products can take up to 450 years to biodegrade if they aren’t recycled, according to greenhouse THE most effective way to reduce plastic is to simply stop buying it.
More garden centres are offering biodegradable pots made using materials such as coir (from coconut husks), wood chips, rice husks and seaweed. Terracotta also makes a great alternative.
You could scoop out the insides of half a lemon and fill with soil, before scattering a small number of seeds. Once the seedlings sprout, you can transfer to a larger area. Lemon peel also acts as a natural fertiliser.
Use biodegradable jute netting to tie in peas and beans, rather than plastic netting, and wire mesh to create fruit caging to protect your harvest from birds.
THEY will still get your seeds off to a flying start. You can even now buy biodegradable bamboo seed trays. You can even plant broad beans and sweet peas in loo roll tubes. ONCE you’re finished giving your tools a facelift, hang them up to dry.
Try to keep them away from the damp floor, where they’ll also be a trip hazard.
You can fashion yourself a tool wall out of key hooks or fill a bucket with coarse sand to prop up tools so they’re ready to grab.
Pop them in the sand head first and the grit will clean mud from the surface, keep them sharp and they’ll remain dry to stop rust from forming.
Protecting and prolonging the life of your favourite tools has been TERRACOTTA and ceramic pot shards are easy to repurpose by placing them at the base of larger pots to improve drainage, or write on them to create labels.
STOP pruners becoming sticky by cleaning them with mineral spirits or water-displacing sprays like WD-40.
You might be able to take smallbladed secateurs apart for better access.
When purchasing pruning tools, look for brands featuring a safety lock for safe storage, like Kent & Stowe’s 2 in 1 Ratchet Anvil Secateurs – see kentandstowe.com for more information.