WAYS TO CONSUME LESS PLASTIC

Here are some easy steps you can take to reduce the amount of new plastic coming into your garden. But don’t bin the plastic you already have – use and look after it, then avoid buying more.

Look after the plastic you’ve got

Every garden has a reserve of plastic built up over the years, and the best way to keep it out of landfill and avoid buying more is to look after it and keep using it. Place plastic items in the shade, as UV light makes them brittle, and store them in sheds over winter. Sitting plants in plastic trays and pots up on shelves helps to avoid accidental damage. TOP TIP Recycle your plastic before it gets too old and starts breaking, to avoid shedding microplastics directly into the environment.

Turn troughs into water butts

Plastic water butts last for years, even decades. But if they do eventually break, replace them with non-plastic second-hand cattle troughs or old water tanks bought at reclamation yards or auctions. TOP TIP Make a wooden lid for your trough (leaving a hole for the downpipe) and fit a water butt tap to the pipe inlet hole. Then you can fill your can from the tap or just dip it in.

Make your own bio-pots

Re-purpose newspaper and cardboard into biodegradable modules and pots – you’ll be upcycling waste materials into a better start for your plants. Use a wooden paper potter or glass jar to roll newspaper strips into small cylindical pots for sowing seeds, and save cardboard loo roll inners for sowing long-rooted plants such as beans and sweet peas. TOP TIP Make larger pots from thin cardboard: cut out an open-topped box template, then tape the sides together with paper masking-tape.

Mix your own potting compost

Blend homemade compost, soil and leafmould to make potting compost without the plastic sack. It’s quick to make, peat-free and lowcarbon. You can make as little as a bucketful if you’re just potting up a few house plants, and you can tweak the ingredients to suit the plants. TOP TIP A mix of three parts garden compost, two parts weed-free soil and one part coir, leafmould or well-rotted woodchip, plus a trowelful of seaweed meal per barrow, makes a good all-round multi-purpose potting compost.

Shop carefully

Going plastic-free is all about making conscious choices: so refuse to buy twine, eco-pots or wooden plant labels that are packaged in plastic (all are available in paper sleeves or loose online). Save up and invest in fewer, but higher-spec wooden tools, containers, furniture and other products that will last longer, then look after them well. TOP TIP Buying second-hand often means you get better quality at a cheaper price, and with a lower carbon footprint, too.

Buy bare-root plants

New plants invariably arrive with an unwanted side order of plastic. But bare-root plants, available from September to March, usually come just as they are, dug up while dormant to plant in winter, when they’ll settle in better. A massive range of plants are now sold bareroot, including perennials such as irises, peonies and phlox, as well as shrubs and trees. TOP TIP Unpack bare-root plants as soon as they arrive. Soak tree and shrub roots in water for an hour, before planting as soon as possible.

Use your garden’s resources

There’s often no need to go shopping at all. You can make liquid plant feed from comfrey or nettle leaves, and plant labels from painted stones or broken roof slates. You’ll minimise your demand on the Earth’s resources, making your gardening not just zero-plastic but almost zero-carbon, too. TOP TIP Grow your own string plant, aka New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) – its leaves can be split lengthways to make strong fibres that can be used for tying in tomatoes.

Grow your own vegetables

Your garden can help you cut your plastic-use in the kitchen, too. Grow your own veg without chemicals and your food will be plastic-free, organic, low-carbon, fresh and utterly delicious. TOP TIP Cross off high-plastic veg from your shopping list first, like salad leaves, cucumbers and French beans. These will grow happily in a pot or a patch of sunny ground.