When it comes to making your garden more beautiful and functional, there are lots of ingenious items that you can use in ways you may not have previously considered using to improve your garden.
Ingenious items are innovative materials, such as recyclables, that you can use to decorate your garden, place your plants, or create DIY garden tools from wood and other available materials at home.
In this article, you’ll learn some of items you can use for your garden as your reference.
- Pallets
Home Ideas explains that pallets are great for creating garden pallet beds, garden furniture, and planters, among others. If you have some pallets at home from other purchases, you can use them in your garden to create a new look, such as DIY garden plant boxes and benches, and recycle them rather than just tossing them out.
- Dishwashing Gloves
As you have probably noticed, most garden gloves sold on the market today are not waterproof. So, it’s a wise idea to keep a pair of old but good quality dishwashing gloves along with your other gardening tools. Using these gloves, you can wash flower pots and clean any wet areas, like an artificial pond or birdbath, with ease, or keep your other gloves from being soaked through after a recent rain or watering. It would be a good idea to keep extra-long pair of kitchen gloves that cover your wrists too for tasks like trimming rose bushes and other, slightly more hazardous gardening chores.
- Empty Soft Drink or Water Bottles
If you have any one- or two-liter soda bottles or water bottles, you can repurpose them as plant containers, most especially for hanging plants like orchids.
- Key Ring
Key rings are not just great for keeping your keys all in one place. You can also use old ones as a simple way to keep track of what you want to plant each season. Simply hole punch the plant tags and then keep them handy using a key ring so that you can consult any information, such as light and water needs. Just avoid punching a hole on the label where you find relevant plant information.
- Colorful Shampoo and Conditioner Plastic Containers
Plastic containers of shampoos and conditioners are usually colorful with different sizes and bottle shapes, making them a perfect receptacle for plant seeds and even plant containers for seedlings. Simply cut them in the middle to come up with the widest top to plant your seedlings.
- Binder Clips
Bulldog or binder clips have many uses in the garden. You can make use of them when you’re planting seeds. It will help ensure that the packets stay shut and avoid spilling.
- Date Clips
Keeping track of your garden’s harvest dates is made easier by adding these date clips to your plant tags. It helps note the estimated date when the crop is ready to pick.
- Glove Hangers
You can use binder or bulldog clips to make glove hangers. Having several glove hangers can be used to hand your gloves after each use and other garden tools.
- Kitchen Knife
Garden knives can be pricey, so if you don’t want to spend money, you can check your kitchen for extra kitchen knife. A serrated kitchen knife from a local thrift shop also works great.
- Ceiling Light Covers
You can make use of a tube peanut feeder intended for nuthatches and woodpeckers to create ceiling light covers in your greenhouse or garden. Keeping the ceiling light covered and hanging prevents squirrels from getting attracted and jumping on it.
- Hair Clips
You might be surprised, but yes, hair clips make excellent lightweight plant supports. You can use them to support vines and orchids in your garden since they come in various sizes.
- Sandwich Bags
These bags are great for protecting the ripening fruit in your garden. Just make sure to cut some air holes. Also, close the zip lock near the stem and then use a binder clip to held things in place. It will help avoid squirrels from eating your fruits before they are ripe.
- Polyester Quilt Batting
It is an excellent ingenious item that is used for cleaning a small and gunky garden pond. To install polyester quilt batting, you can wrap this item around a metal basket and then place the pond pump inside. As water passes through it, it will be cleaned while it’s on its way to the pump.
- Pantyhose
Nylon stockings can be used to stake a plant. If you have melons growing in your garden and other fruit-bearing trees that require support, you can use your old pair of pantyhose repurposed as an amazing fruit holder. As your fruits get large, you can place them in pantyhose, tying them to the trellis. In this way, the weight of the fruit won’t cause snapping off the vine before the fruit is ripe.
- Old Boots
If you have old boots you’re not using anymore, you can plant some succulents in them.
- Broken Dishes
Your beautiful broken dishes should not be put to waste because you can use them to create mosaic art pieces for your garden or a succulent planter.
- Seam Ripper
Keeping a good sharp letter opener or seam ripper is a good idea. It will make it much easier to open seed packets. So, you don’t need to worry about tearing the paper. And you would be able to see the info on the seed packet because it is not ripped off.
- Coffee Filters
Because flower pots also need drainage holes that aren’t too big, you can use old coffee filters to ensure that the soil proper drainage of excess water. Also, you can use scraps of fine mesh of a repurposed window screen.
- Food Jars
You can decorate the food jars with flat-bottom marbles, attaching its lid to a wood post to create a hose guard, which will keep the water hose from ruining your plants.
- Old Mugs and Cups
You can use old mugs and cups as plant containers. They are cute and add color to your lovely garden.
Conclusion Now, you’re all set to make your garden more beautiful and functional with these ingenious items you can find at home. Making your garden a great place to plant flowers, fruits, vegetables, and other crops in possible by being resourceful and creative using these ingenious items shared above.
Sarah Eberle qualified and became a member of the Landscape Institute in 1980. Over the last 26 years she has practised landscape architecture and garden design, running her own business in Devon.
During the 1990s, Sarah joined Hillier Landscapes as Design Director, where she is still a shareholder but also runs her own practice in Hampshire.
Sarah has an esteemed record in RHS shows, having won eight Gold medals, Best in Show and the George Cook award for innovation twice at Hampton Court. Sarah has also exhibited at Tatton Park and BBC Gardeners’ World Live.