Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

Looking for a cheaper way to fertilize flowers or keep pests at bay? A
better tool for planting tiny seeds?
The answers may lie in your home, where common household items like
coffee grounds or old pie tins can become easy, eco-friendly tools to
give your garden a boost without breaking the bank.
Turn old boots or shoes into planters, or reuse packing peanuts by
laying them at the bottom of large flower pots to aid in drainage and
make for lighter lifting, suggests Stacy Tornio, editor of Birds &
Blooms magazine.
"You can take anything you have and upcycle it," she says.
Some simple, easy ways to repurpose household items for a bargain backyard:

CREATIVE CONTAINERS

It's easy to spend a fortune on pots and vases. But one easy way to
start "upcycling" in the garden is by planting herbs, flowers and
houseplants in everything from worn boots to old teapots and even
bathroom sinks.
"They contribute a touch of whimsy and even a 'settled' look to a garden
scene," Tornio says.
Cristin Frank, a 38-year-old author and gardening blogger from
Williamsville, New York, uses yogurt cups and other recyclable plastic
containers as small pots for her "starter" plants in the spring.
Old take-out coffee cups serve as starter watering cans with their
smaller, perforated plastic tops.
Birdbaths can also be made from household items like an old glass light
shade mounted on copper tubing.
Justin Cave, an Atlanta-based landscaper and former host of HGTV's
"Ground Breakers," recently turned old shipping pallets into a vertical
garden by covering the backs and sides with landscape fabric, stuffing
them with dirt, and planting succulents and flowers in the slated openings.
"It turned out awesome, and was very cost-effective," he says.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

In need of some new garden tools? Save yourself a trip to the hardware
store and check your kitchen drawers.
Table utensils like spoons, forks and knives are tough and sharp enough
to do many gardening jobs without causing damage, according to Tornio.
Use them to separate flats, lift seedlings and tease apart dense root
balls. Knives can also make a slim path for tiny seeds to fall into.
Tornio says she's also seen people repurpose utensils as garden markers
and borders for flower beds.
Even something as innocuous as old nylons can be reused in the backyard
to tie up floppy plants or line the bottom of pots so water can get
through but dirt cannot.
Packing peanuts are also a good drainage medium, and lighten the load
when large pots need to be moved around, Tornio says.

HOMEMADE REMEDIES

Old wives' tales abound for solving all kinds of garden problems, from
pesky deer to acidic soil, but many of them actually work.
And much of what you need may be sitting in your kitchen and bathroom
cabinets.
Coffee grounds, for example, can be sprinkled at the bottom of any plant
to improve drainage in clay soils, and especially plants that like rich,
moist organic soils like azaleas and blueberries, Tornio says.
Tornio says soap can keep deer from feasting on trees and plants. She
suggests breaking a bar of soap into pieces and hanging them from
strings or in old nylons or net bags on trees or other structures near
prime deer feeding areas. The scent could also keep other pests away.
Terry Grahl, founder and CEO of the Michigan-based nonprofit Enchanted
Makeovers, uses the guts left over from her husband's fishing trips as
fertilizer for her gardens.
Finely crushed egg shells can be used as compost or a way to add calcium
to soils, while larger pieces keep snails and slugs at bay, according to
Florida's Manatee County Extension Service.

WHIMSICAL DECOR

Household items can also add a touch of whimsy to garden decor. Use an
old musical instrument like a tuba to build a water fountain, or create
a "bottle garden" by placing empty soda bottles over tree branches with
your kids, says Sara Jenkins-Sutton, vice president of Chicago-based
garden and floral design firm Topiarius Urban Garden.
"When your cheese grater starts to turn rusty, turn it over, hang it on
a deck and fill it with flowers, plants or outdoor chalk," she suggests.
Scatter vintage chairs or old farm equipment throughout your garden to
add height and depth, and make a funky wind chime out of old wine bottles.
Worried about your reused junk looking like, well, junk?
Tornio suggests covering old containers with wallpaper or tying a ribbon
around them to freshen them up and keep your front stoop looking good.

David Hill wrote:

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

I see these things from time to time.... my take on it is usually "But
aren't we all doing that already?" At least those of us who come from an
.....erm....economical background? (And retired into what some call "genteel
poverty).
I'm still using the occasional Dunkin' Donuts paper coffee cup from my
long-departed father in law's garden collection. Yogurt makers here often
use plastic tubs with shrink-wrapped covering that has the printing on it;
Easily removed to make pots ore to cut into strips for nice plant labels.
From what I see posted here, I'm not exceptionally clever.

--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On 2013-10-09 13:39:13 +0000, David Hill said:

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

snip

I can't remember who it was but just a few days ago I was talking to
someone who grows mushrooms on spent coffee grounds. I'm afraid I
wouldn't go in for planting up old boots etc. That's not my thing at
all though I've seen it done plenty of times.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

In article ,
says...

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden



Some rather whimsical idea's, and some common sense
that is already done here.

I have a selection of old kitchen knives at various
points in the garden (greenhouse, shed garage etc,
handy and near at hand,

Not sure if SWMBO would appreciated me using her
tights to tie up flowers though, I already get enough
stick for using old boot laces!

Coffee grounds always go on the compost, and have done
for many years.

Boots as planters - they must be joking!

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On 09/10/2013 14:58, Roger Tonkin wrote:
In article ,
says...

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden



Some rather whimsical idea's, and some common sense
that is already done here.

I have a selection of old kitchen knives at various
points in the garden (greenhouse, shed garage etc,
handy and near at hand,

Not sure if SWMBO would appreciated me using her
tights to tie up flowers though, I already get enough
stick for using old boot laces!

Coffee grounds always go on the compost, and have done
for many years.

Boots as planters - they must be joking!

Tights are best used for storing onions, that is after legs.;-) Simply
place an onion in the bottom of the leg, tie a not then repeat until
full. It is amazing how much they stretch!

In article ,
says...
Tights are best used for storing onions, that is after legs.;-) Simply
place an onion in the bottom of the leg, tie a not then repeat until
full. It is amazing how much they stretch!



i PREFER NETTING TYPE SACKS. wITH TIGHTS, i'VE ALWAYS
FOUND THEM DIFFICULT TO CUT OFF, AND A PITA IF YOU
WANT TO BRING IN HALF A DOZEN OR SO.


PS sorry about the capitals, I did not notice
--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

In article ,
says...

Not sure if SWMBO would appreciated me using her
tights to tie up flowers though,

The old laddered ones she has finished with. Or, use them for storing
onions.

Boots as planters - they must be joking!

What a waste of boots. Leather boots, woolly jumpers etc
are ideal longterm fertiliser, buried in the planting hole of a new
rhubarb patch.
Plastic wellies; cut strips off the sides to use as washers, or
hinges for the roof of birdboxes.

Janet.

"David Hill" wrote... ((Huge Snip))


Don't throw it out; use it in the garden



Whilst we know some of those things there are some I wouldn't contemplate,
too untidy even on the allotment. I actually find I always have too many
proper pots and anyway a local GC has a bin for old pots and you can add or
take away as you want, got some free tree sized pots that way.

What I find is that some allotment gardeners use their plots as a dumping
ground for stuff they no longer want at home and when they give up, as they
always do, the poor person taking over spends days clearing and driving old
manky rubbish to the dump before they can even consider gardening. Then they
find glass and all sorts of old rubbish mixed into the soil too, as we did
when we took our latest plot over. Still finding glass and bits of plastic
occasionally, seem to have got rid of the bricks and fork jamming sized
stones now thankfully.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 09/10/2013 16:59, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

Not sure if SWMBO would appreciated me using her
tights to tie up flowers though,

The old laddered ones she has finished with. Or, use them for storing
onions.

Boots as planters - they must be joking!

What a waste of boots. Leather boots, woolly jumpers etc
are ideal longterm fertiliser, buried in the planting hole of a new
rhubarb patch.
Plastic wellies; cut strips off the sides to use as washers, or
hinges for the roof of birdboxes.

Janet.


Right, one pair of plastic Adult wellies will give you around 500
washers, you could just cut a couple of planting holes in them low down
and still get a couple of dozen washers.
I'm surprised that no one has picked up on "covering old containers with
wallpaper"
Wouldn't work in this area with the rain we get.
Tornio says soap can keep deer from feasting on trees and plants, so
does slow roasting,
I have used old stockings, cut in strips across the leg, for tying in
plants, they last around a year.

In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

Comment.. she must be in a timewarp, she's only half a century late
with those suggestions.

Btw I would not recommend polystyrene packing peanuts for mixing
in potting compost; sooner or later when you want to recycle that
compost on to the garden, it will still be full of unsightly blobs and
you don't want pets wildlife or birds to swallow that stuff.

Janet

In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

On 09/10/2013 16:59, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

Not sure if SWMBO would appreciated me using her
tights to tie up flowers though,

The old laddered ones she has finished with. Or, use them for storing
onions.

Boots as planters - they must be joking!

What a waste of boots. Leather boots, woolly jumpers etc
are ideal longterm fertiliser, buried in the planting hole of a new
rhubarb patch.
Plastic wellies; cut strips off the sides to use as washers, or
hinges for the roof of birdboxes.

Janet.


Right, one pair of plastic Adult wellies will give you around 500
washers, you could just cut a couple of planting holes in them low down
and still get a couple of dozen washers.

I'd rather have a million washers than plant anything in old wellies
:-)

I'm surprised that no one has picked up on "covering old containers with
wallpaper"

Well I didn't want to say anything too rude for a family group.

Janet.

David Hill wrote:

Tornio says soap can keep deer from feasting on trees and plants, so
does slow roasting,

Doesn't work, at least for long.
I am rather fond of Bambi Bourginon, however.

Electric fence works, but only if you keep it clean at full power, and bait
it in spring with bits of foil coated with peanut butter. If the deer ever
figure out that there's something tasty behind the fence, all bets are off.

--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On 09/10/2013 18:24, Janet wrote:
In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

Comment.. she must be in a timewarp, she's only half a century late
with those suggestions.

Btw I would not recommend polystyrene packing peanuts for mixing
in potting compost; sooner or later when you want to recycle that
compost on to the garden, it will still be full of unsightly blobs and
you don't want pets wildlife or birds to swallow that stuff.

Janet

A lot of the "Peanuts" are now made of corn starch so co soggy as soon
as they get damp, in fact they are edible though tasteless

On 09/10/2013 18:21, David Hill wrote:

I'm surprised that no one has picked up on "covering old containers with
wallpaper"
Wouldn't work in this area with the rain we get.

and:
"...placing empty soda bottles over tree branches with your kids"

Do you alternate bottle and child or have them in clumps?

-
regards
andy

"David Hill" wrote in message ...


Don't throw it out; use it in the garden

Looking for a cheaper way to fertilize flowers or keep pests at bay?
snip
Coffee grounds, for example, can be sprinkled at the bottom of any plant to
improve drainage in clay soils, and especially plants that like rich, moist
organic soils like azaleas and blueberries, Tornio says.

I save the coffee pucks from my machine, but there's a plentiful supply if
you have a coffee shop near you.

After the following article came out, Howard Shultz the CEO of Starbucks,
encouraged gardeners to ask for spent pucks from his shops. Remember to
'double bag' as wet grounds are heavy:-
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.UlvSPdBwa1s

Careful how you use it, as caffeine could also endanger beneficial
organisms. I use it as a barrier around plants like Hostas and around
strawberry planters. A layer 2" wide and 1" deep does the job. I put bits of
raised slate over the barrier, to prevent the grounds being washed away. May
still need to be topped up once a month during the season.