Property – Gardening Upgrade your gardening kit with these recycling ideas
It’s great news that garden centres have been able to reopen, but if you’re on a tight budget, don’t forget the items you already have on hand that you can recycle as pots, cloches and canetoppers. There’s a myriad uses for plastic bottles, cans, jars, loo roll and corks, which will save you plenty of money in the long run.
Which? Gardening (gardening.which.co.uk/hc/ en-gb), the Consumers’ Association magazine, reports 83% of its members have reused items rather than send them to landfill. The most popular were woody prunings as plant supports, plastic bottles for watering, and paths made out of old bricks. Almost a third have used a bucket as a planter and a quarter use old tights as plant ties.
So, what else can you do? Here are 10 ideas:
1. MAKE THE MOST OF OLD FURNITURE
You can make large planters out of everything from old drawers to baths, sinks and toilets. Some people use wheelbarrows, chimney pots and car tyres to display their plants.
For people with smaller plots, re-use old cans, drilling drainage holes in the bottom, and paint them in colours of your choice, before planting them up with colourful plants. You could also use wellies, teapots and other old containers as plant pots.
2. MAKE YOUR OWN WATERING CAN Home-made watering cans are ideal for smaller pots and indoor plants, says awardwinning garden designer Joe Perkins. “Using a small drill bit, start by drilling holes into the lid of a large plastic bottle. Make sure you hold the lid in place securely using a workbench or something similar to support it. And that’s it! You have a very useful watering can with a fine spray,” he advises.
“They can be used for seed trays, more specifically salad crops, as they’re ideal when space is tight, or if you’re growing on a windowsill or balcony.”
3. BE ADVENTUROUS WITH PLANT SUPPORTS
As well as using long twigs
Gardeners use the end of
6. CREATE A MINI GREENHOUSE CLOCHE Perkins suggests: “A mini cloche is perfect for protecting newly planted seedlings from dangers like the wind, as well as slugs and snails.”
Take a two litre or five litre bottle and simply cut off the bottom, pop it into the pot and there you have it, your new little pride and joy is safe for another day.
7. BE ADVENTUROUS WITH KITCHEN ITEMS
10. CREATE A COMPOST SCOOP Old plastic milk bottles or detergent containers (anything with a handle) can be converted into compost scoops by cutting just below the handle and downwards, creating a scooping shape, notes Perkins.