Gardening is not an inexpensive hobby but there are ways to save money and they are right in your own house. Items that you might recycle or that could end up in a landfill make great tools and can help you with your gardening budget. I’ll share some of my ideas, but I’m sure that you probably have some of your own. Let’s face it the only limit for their use is your own imagination.
One of the few vices I have in life is drinking coffee. Since I drink it daily it makes sense to purchase it in bulk and when the coffee container is empty I have plenty of other uses for it. These containers are great for storage purposes. I use them in the fall to store seed that I’ll plant next spring and I also can fit a second set of hand tools in them, put the lid on, and store them in the backyard or in my container garden so I can pull them out when I need them. The lid keeps them from rusting and I don’t have to walk back and forth to the garage.
I’ve also used these coffee cans to help mix grass seed for bare spots. I put some top soil in the can filling it to about 3/4 full and then put the seed in. Put the lid on, shake it up and you have seed mixed with soil that you can easily carry around the yard to fill in those spots. Finally, when I need a small container to put flowers in I poke some holes it the bottom, spray paint them with a paint that can be used on plastic and I have a pot ready to go.
Egg cartons are another item that can be reused for gardening purposes. After you’ve finished with it you can poke holes in each egg cell, put some potting soil in the cell and you have an instant seed starter. When the seedling is grown you can gently push it out and it is a perfect size for planting. Egg cartons can also be used to store seeds and they are great on your workbench for nuts, bolts, screws and nails.
Do you get a lot of junk mail? Do you consider it necessary to shred documents to prevent identity theft? So what do you do with the shredded paper? One thing I’ve used it for is to store tender bulbs and tubers such as cannas and dahlias so I can plant them again next season. Simply fill a box with the shredded paper and bury the bulbs and tubers in it. The paper provides insulation against the cold and also serves as a dry medium to minimize the chance that the bulbs and tubers will get moldy or rot. The shredded paper can also be used as a mulch to keep weeds down on vegetable garden paths although I might not use it on your vegetable flower beds since it may have chemicals that could react with the soil.
Finally, you can also try using crushed soda cans and bottles in the bottom of containers to promote good drainage and making the container lighter so it is easy to move around. This article just scratches the surface of how you can reuse such items in your garden. I am sure you have tips of your own. Please share them on Facebook and the authors of the top 10 tips will receive a special prize.
