How to reuse household items for a greener garden

Reusing household items for a greener garden

Those of you who have been following along with my column will know that as well as splashing some cash on a new, quality tool once in a while, I’m also dead keen on saving some of those hard-earned pennies and crafting something of my own too. Past projects have included elaborate planters, wall hangings, broken pot displays and more besides, but this time I’m going to help you to create not one (but two) nifty items with things that I can almost guarantee you’ll have already in your house.

Create your own scoop

Every time I finish a carton of milk, I always have that flash of a moment where I think ‘I can do something with this’ before it inevitably ends up in the recycling bin. However, on this occasion the inspiration was there to make something useful, like a compost scoop.

Step 1: Start off by thoroughly washing out your empty plastic milk carton with warm soapy water. You’ll want to make sure you wash away any last remnants of milk as no one likes a stinky scoop.

Step 2: Using a pen or pencil, draw a scooped dotted line on the opposite end to the carton lid. Use my photo here as a guide, but you’ll want to try to draw something that tapers down from the handle to the bottom corner on the other side of the carton.

Step 3: Cut out your scoop shape (carefully). Use a sharp pair of scissors or a garden knife, cut along the line you’ve drawn and remove the excess plastic for recycling. What you’re now left with is your very own handy compost scoop.

As a bonus, if you’re fortunate to have little ones running around outside helping you in the garden, then you can also use a smaller one-pint carton – which makes a scoop that is perfect for smaller hands!

Going potty for…. pots

Something else we’d otherwise add to the recycling bin without a thought is newspaper which Toby Buckland also talks about on page 64. As gardeners, we know that it has its uses in compost bins and in a plethora of other things but have you ever thought about using it to make your own pots? Here’s how I go about it step-by-step.

Step 1: Think about the size of pot you’d like to make and find yourself a jar or tin from the cupboard that is roughly the same size. I’ve found that these little newspaper pots are perfect for starting off seeds and for potting on cuttings, so small jars work well here.

Step 2: Take a single sheet of a double-page spread of a newspaper and fold it in half lengthways until you’ve got a long strip of paper that is just slightly taller than your jar (see image 2)

Step 3: Starting at one end of the paper, roll your jar all the way along until you can’t roll any more. Then tuck the ends over and in on themselves and remove your jar.