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Eco-Gardening

Everyday household items have new purpose when they are recycled in the garden.

Eco-gardening is applying the principles of recycling right in your own yard and garden. Many objects, from deli tubs to newspapers to old pantyhose can have a second life helping you maintain your garden.

You can save money at the same time that you reduce waste by taking advantage of free materials you might otherwise have to purchase or replace. Eco-gardening reduces your garbage, and it keeps nutrients from natural sources, such as leaves, right where they are needed most—in your gardens soil.

Tap into your thriftiness by turning discarded items into useful garden aids. Just to be sure any containers did not originally store toxic materials.

Recycling in the garden

The following ideas are barely scraping the surface of how everyday household items can be reused in the garden.

If you have an idea that you would like to share, please contact the Waste Reduction Office.

• Toilet paper rolls over new transplants help protect them from cutworm damage.
  
• Use a plastic pop bottle as a drip irrigation for a single plant. Poke a hole in the bottom of the bottle and fill it with water.
  
• Compost is an excellent way to recycle vegetable and fruit peelings into nutrient-rich soil conditioner. To learn everything you need to know about composting, click here.
  
• Old nylon stockings work well as plant ties. They are soft and will not hurt the plants.
  
• Cut the tops off milk jugs and place them over seedlings to act as a instant greenhouse.
  
• Clear plastic dry-cleaner bags or wrapping from large items can be used over plants to protect them from frost.
  
• Recycled slabs of concrete can make walls, benches and walkways.
  
• Old newspapers or cardboard can be used as a heavy duty mulch around plants and in between rows.
  
• Even a simple paper bag or cardboard box can become a handy garden accessory for use in temperature extremes. Cover tender plants at night when freezes threaten. Also cover new transplants or wilt susceptible plants on searing afternoons to shade them from intense sun.
  
• Use egg cartons or plastic tubs to start seeds. Clear plastic tubs with their own lids make perfect mini-greenhouses for small cuttings.

Making Mulch:

A Short-Cut to Compost

Grass clippings are often abundant and always easy to use as mulch. Let dry first so they will be easy to spread. Avoid using this method of mulch is you treat the lawn with herbicides, as herbicide residue will harm garden plants.

Newspapers (black and white ink only) between plants or in paths control weeds.

Chopped Branches and shredded leaves from chipper/shredder machines make a wonderful mulch. Let sit for six months or add extra nitrogen.