Here is a list of some “unusual” items to use in your garden.
Unusual Gardening Tools
I have been gardening for all of my adult life, and one thing I have found out over the ahem…twenty so years…is that sometimes found items can and will work better then anything found in a store. I know there are some that will look at this list and think I am completely crazy, but I have used these over the years and they work, and the best thing – they were either cheap or free! I see that as a win-win!
Milk Jugs:
- make a greenhouse, hot cap, watering can, or olla
Egg cartons, Paper towel/Toilet Paper tubes:
- make pots for seedlings
Newspapers:
- use as mulch, kill grass/weeds, or make into pots
Cardboard:
- kill grass/weeds (really works! we used it to kill off grass between beds when we moved our garden last year)
Old Screen door:
- I know it sounds crazy – but I use it to dry onions, garlic, and flowers on. I put it up on 2 chairs or sawhorses and place it on top. it also make a quick shady area for animals in hot weather
Old Sheets/Towels:
- use to cover plants to keep them warm on cold fall nights.
Old Windows:
- make an easy greenhouse/cover for tender plants
Metal Bars, Rebar:
- sturdy metal bars scavenged from old playsets, outdoor swings, etc. – I use them for row markers, keep up the sides of compost piles, and a varity of other jobs
Cinder Blocks:
- use as planters, make raised bed with them
Old Shower Curtains:
- cover plants to make a cheap greenhouse, as they make great tarps – they get nasty just throw away
Lath Strips, Paint Stir Sticks:
- make trellises, plant markers
Egg Shells:
- use as starter pots for seedings, use for compost
Old Silverware – Plastic or Metal:
- use as plant markers
Old Wine Bottles:
- fill with water and place upside down in plant to water it as needed
Coffee Filters:
- put in the bottom of planters
Broken bits of pots/Styrofoam Peanuts, Old Pool Noodles:
- pot fillers for large pots
Pallets:
use as trellises, make into raised beds and I have taken them apart and used them for edging (just make sure they are heat treated instead of chemical treated)
What do you use in your garden that’s unusual?
-D
