Re-use in the Garden May 28, 2007
Posted by Annette H in : What Can I do to Help? , add a commentReusing things in the garden can give interest to your garden and save money. I have been helping my mom re-do some of the front and back yard this year. Some friends of ours had put in a wheelchair ramp for my dad a couple of years ago after he had a stroke. My mom also had to have the retaining walls taken down in the front and back and new ones installed. My dad had originally put in retaining walls by using railroad ties. (That was popular in the 1970’s.) The good thing about that was the re-use of railroad ties. However, they rot and attract termites so I don’t suggest using railroad ties near a house. Mom had the forsight to save all the landscaping rocks that had to be cleared out for the new walls. She saved them in old laundry detergent buckets. This year, we cleaned the rocks by constructing a frame with scrap lumber and putting some type of heavy duty wire mesh between them. Then we rubbed the river rock over the wire frame to get off the excess dirt and then hosed them down on top of the wire mesh. This allowed us to put the rocks back in the front between the new walls. Although this took some time and energy, it saved us money and helped save rocks in the environment.
We decided to do some more landscaping in the front this year. When the wheelchair ramp was installed, a narrow strip of grass was left between the ramp and the old sidewalk. We decided that it looked unattractive and it was difficult to mow. So, we decided to tear out the sod. In the narrowest section, we replanted some moss. Then, we let it grow for awhile and dug up some more to replant. Now the moss has almost covered the whole area. In the larger section, we laid down some landscaping material (to keep out weeds). Then we used the wire frame again to rinse off some old lava rock that had been used previously. Next, we spread it out over the rest of the area. We purchased a set of blue pots and planted red, white, and blue annuals. I lined an old basket with a garbage bag and planted annuals in it and set it on the porch. Boy does it look sharp!
Now that the front is practically finished, we have moved to the back. I cleared out an area to plant some strawberries. Then we put in an old pump (which doesn’t work, but it looks neat) and set a coal bucket underneath. I planted snapdragons in the bucket to give a splash of color. We also have a coal bucket in the front yard and on the side of the house. We just laid these down on their sides and put in some potting soil. Then, we planted some annuals around it and a couple on the edge of it. This makes it look like the bucket was tipped over spilling out flowers. You could do this with any old container (we just happended to have coal buckets). Hopefully this inspires you to try finding things to re-use in your garden or on your porch.
