Repurpose and re-use items in the garden

National Garden Week, the country’s biggest annual celebration of gardening, takes place from 26 April to 2 May. With more and more of us taking up gardening, the Council’s Waste Management team has put together some ideas for repurposing and re-using items you may already have available to you to use in your garden.

Reducing, reusing, repurposing and recycling have been shown to lead to reduced carbon emissions and are steps we can all take in the fight against climate change.

Every product we buy has a carbon footprint and the energy used in making that product will almost certainly have caused some carbon emissions. Some of the ways we can reduce emissions from the products we use at home are by:

• reducing the amount of products we buy
• reusing or repurposing products instead of throwing them away
• recycling when you no longer need something.

Here are some ideas of items you can reuse or repurpose in your garden.

Create a vertical garden

Repurpose canes or other odd pieces of wood from things like broken garden furniture, old wine racks, shelves or steps. The Wildlife Trust has tips on how to make a vertical garden from wooden pallets

Re-use plastic bottles and pots

Plastic bottles that you no longer have use for are perfect for growing vegetables in or for cutting up to protect young plants from the wind and cold as they establish. Yogurt pots or old fruit trays are also ideal for sowing seeds in. Tomatoes planted in bottles secured up high will trail and create an interesting vertical wall and is a great idea for small gardens. Grow Veg has some useful tips and ideas to get you started.

Get creative with pallets

From bike stands to compost bins, herb gardens to outdoor furniture, pallets are great for repurposing into new items. Get inspired by visiting the 1001 pallets website.

Re-use old gutters

Gutters make great containers for growing flowers, vegetables and herbs. If you put them on a slight angle, then you create natural drainage. Visit the Garden and Happy website for gutter garden ideas.

Create new items from old wood

If you have any old pieces of wood, for example from an old shed or fence try creating an outdoor sink area, mud kitchen for the kids or garden furniture from it. Get some inspiration on building a mud kitchen from DIY Garden website.

A new life for old tyres

Old tyres that are sent to the waste stream are toxic and difficult to recycle. A good idea is a re-purpose them as play items or along walls for plants. Upcycled Wonders have some great ideas for re-using old tyres.

Make use of your cardboard

Cardboard is bio-degradable and is an excellent resource for our gardens. It helps the soil in our gardens acting as a great compost item and to line flower and vegetable beds to suppress weeds. Visit the Rural Sprout website for nine ideas on using cardboard in your garden.