Recycling in the garden
Here are some ideas:
- Empty plastic drinks bottles cut in half make great planters or bird feeders
- Seedlings can be planted in empty yoghurt pots, small aluminum cans and paper egg cartons
- Old tyres can be cut in half and used as flower planters.
- Old newspapers can be turned into plant pots (to find out how, check out the Organic Gardening Catalogue at www.organiccatalog.com)
And when you want a break from the DIY approach, why not take advantage of the growing range of garden goods made from recycled materials? Recycled plastic is excellent for garden furniture and won’t rot or need painting or varnishing every year.
COMPOSTING
No wonder. Everyone wins when you compost at home.You gain a free source of nutrients that will make your garden (and pot plants) grow. The UK avoids tipping perfectly good organic material into landfill sites. And your rubbish bags are that bit lighter for the bin men.
In fact, nearly 50% of what we throw away is biodegradable. All you need to transform it into an excellent soil-improver is a compost bin. Some local authorities are providing cut-price composting bins to kick-start home composting in their area. Otherwise, most garden centres sell them.
And it’s easy to do! As a snooker player might say, it’s just a question of greens and browns:
- Greens are things like vegetable peel, fruit scraps, teabags, grass cuttings and hedge clippings. They break down quickly and keep the bin moist.
- Browns are things like straw, wood chippings, sawdust, and shredded paper and cardboard. They give the compost its fibre and allow good air circulation.
Adding equal amounts of greens and
browns will really help the natural
composting process. It also works
best if you add lots of materials
(chopped into small pieces) at once.
The ‘forbidden’ list of things never to compost includes cooked veg, dairy products, meat, fish, bones, pet litter, disposable nappies, plastic, glass and metal.
The composting process usually takes 6-18 months. In the meantime if you do go out to buy any ready-made composts, soil improvers or mulches, look out for the reduced peat or peat-free products - they also contain recycled products!
You know you’ve made it as a rotter when you find a very dark brown or black compost at the bottom of your compost bin. You can use it directly on your garden or blend it with sand and soil to make a potting mix.
For information or advice on home composting, contact your local authority recycling officer or visit www.compost.org.uk.