Tips for Upcycling Garden Trash into Useful Tools

Winning tip:Another life for old hose carts

I had two rusted - out hosepipe go-cart . I disassembled them and realized they could be repurposed . After I painted them with Rustoleum , I zip - tied a metal field goal to the understructure of one and cedar tree fencing panel to the base of the other . Both have obliterable cedar fence – panel top chopine that double as seats . The basket on the small cart allows stain to decrease through , and the top platform on the larger go-cart can handle a stack of bags of mulch or compost . The large cart also has a alloy basket on the handle originally for hose attachments , which is perfect for gardening pecker .

— Ginger Luoma Anderson , Maple Grove , Minnesota

A new twist on a deer fence

The cervid in my domain have become a scourge . While I have seek a diversity of traditional deer - fencing options , they have all fail spectacularly . And for a relatively modest curtilage , I found the fences obtrusive and ugly . This leap I installed a rebar alternative . Starting with 10 - foot lengths of ½-inch rebar , I disregard off 1- and 2 - animal foot objet d’art , leaving 8- and 9 - base lengths stay on . I then marked 1 foot off the bottom of each of the long piece . A friend and I installed each recollective firearm of rebar vertically against an existing split rails fence , space them at 1 - foot separation and pushing each into the solid ground up to the 1 - pes mark . They were attach to the split railing with building staple . To provide extra stability , the lowly objet d’art of cut rebar were attached horizontally to the upright pieces usingclips that were recommended by Matt Mattusin ourMarch / April 2024 outlet . The vertical piece were wide-ranging every which way ( and sometimes strategically ) , as were the horizontal piece , to keep the fence visually interesting . The result is a fence that is 7 to 8 feet tall , with enough batch to be seeable to the cervid . But it is also both architecturally interesting and surprisingly invisible from a distance . And it is , so far , effective .

— Vicki Demarest , Flourtown , Pennsylvania

Don’tremoveyour leaves—movethem

The procedure of transfer leaves from places where you do n’t need them is well-situated if you have some areas in your garden where you do . Each fall I put a layer of dry leaves ( mainly oak tree and maple ) about a foot deep on a garden of genus Funka and daffodils and then toss a few twig on top to keep them in place when the wind blows . The leaf stratum reduce with metre and precipitation , and in spring the newfangled pointed leaves go forth without trouble . I ’ve similarly throng fall leaves on daylilies and tulips , and under shrub . There ’s no need to chop the leaves first , so this process is about as easy as it gets , given that some other plants ( notably evergreens and dryland plants ) need to overwinter in the clear .

— Peg McCann , St. Joseph , Michigan

Composting with brown paper lunch bags

Instead of using a cannister or pail , we throw our kitchen scraps into a brown paper dejeuner sack and just sky it in the compost when we are done . The bags are inexpensive and compostable themselves . This saves us from having a smelly indoor compost - scrap holder that we have to keep clean all the time .

— Sondra Allison , West Point , Texas

New use for an old bag

Many of us gather a variety of bet and poles for various uses throughout our gardens . The next time you are ready to throw aside a damaged canvass folding chair , keep the canvas tent bag . It makes a great bearer for stake and Pole , and it can be hung up to flush .

— Jane School , DeKalb , Illinois

Composting in plastic bags

I am fortunate to live in a biotic community with weekly “ green bin ” military service for garden debris and all kitchen garbage ( including heart and dairy ) . They also accept any telephone number of additional paper garden - debris bag , at no extra bursting charge . That ’s a huge benefit for our annual pre – fire time of year cleanup , which can easily sweep over even the largest 96 - gallon green can .

I have render up on the traditional composting bin , mostly because of the work ask , plus the city service of process is so convenient . However , I still desire my own compost sometimes . My solution is to commit an unseen part of my yard to all passive compost . I stuff garden trimmings and the endless parting dropping from my huge evergreen plant oak tree into the empty bags from potting soil , manure , and so on . I plume the contents with a hosepipe , shut the bags up tight for a year or two , and then take back to beautiful compost . No fussing about green / browned ratios , no turning , no concerns about critter making nests . ( And no , I ’m not concerned about the ink in the bags . First , the ink is on the outside , and 2d , the bags came with soil in them in the beginning , with no apparent sick effects . ) Eventually the bags wear out , so I double travelling bag and then finally have to reluctantly devote them to the landfill several years after my original leverage .

— Carol Copperud , Oakland , California

pic : good manners of the contributors

We need your gardening tip !

Send your crest to[email protected]and please include high - resolution photo if potential . The prize for the gain confidential information is a one - year subscription toFine Gardeningwith an All Access membership .

all right Gardening Recommended Products

DeWit Spork with Solid Socket

Gardener ’s Log Book from NYBG

Corona Tools 10 - Inch RazorTOOTH fold Saw

Get our latest hint , how - to articles , and instructional video recording send out to your inbox .

Signing you up …

New Garden Tips for Spring

Tips for Protecting Plants

Tips to Help You Squeeze More Out of Your Garden

6 Gardening Tips That Repurpose Common Household Items

Join Fine Gardening for a free engaging live webinar boast Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant diagnostician as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamental technical manager …

When I spot a special sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in trouble . With a delightful colour pattern …

When we only prioritise industrial plant we want over plant life our landscape needs , each season is fill up with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , remedy , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be deliberate when you embark the backyard of garden graphic designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to actuate on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …