Recycling everyday old stuff creatively can produce inexpensive solutions. Anything can make a great plant container. . . old shoes for tiny succulents or flowers, work boots for handy herbs, gumboots for bold ornamental grasses, tin cans and plastic bottles that can be cut, upturned and filled for salad crop window gardens, coal scuttles and toilet pans can overflow with colourful trailing plants, milk containers and tyres that make a potato tower-clay pipes, chimney pots, dustbins, dead dinghies, kitchen sinks, saucepans and kettles - the list is endless!
Cut a rugby or basketball to create a hanging garden or newspaper seedling pot, or hang rows of guttering seed beds against a handy fence. That broken ladder or clothes airer will provide a wonderful support for
beans, peas or any climber.
Use old spoons to name herbs, a blackened saucepan to restrict vigorous mint growth, string bird deterrent cds over the strawberry patch or make a rag tag op-shop-dressed scarecrow.
BOTTLE GARDENS are created by upturning and part burying water filled screw top wine bottles to form a border that not only provides an effective colourful edging, but also conducts sun warmth into the bed. Be wary of mowers and locate bottle gardens carefully, as flying stones may cause your 10 green bottles to accidentally fall!
Plastic bottle vertical window gardens take up little space and provide a good area of plantability for indoors or out. Some keen recyclers have even built whole greenhouses or garden sheds out of plastic drinks bottles, strung vertically column by column. I am unsure as to the lifespan of one of these constructions and welcome any feedback.
THE TIPPY TAP is a simple foot-operated device which provides an in garden hand wash facility. It's used as an aid to basic hygiene in water restricted India-as a film by Andrew Hinton demonstrates. www.vimeo.com/19752311
For the keen scavenger, building sites, demolition yards or refuse dumps yield reclaimed bricks, pavers, doors, concrete reinforcing wire. Held up between or across the top of old upright posts this makes an open support for climbers like Wisteria or Blood vine.
Have a go at creating quirky garden ornamental objets d'art like cutlery wind chimes, cycle wheel statues, plastic drink bottle scarecrows or even kitchen utensil water features. Remember the 3 Rs and happy planting!
