Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle

[essexboyracer]

Hi all, we found a couple of large sheets of rusty corrugated steel in the corner of our plot9.co.uk (previously potashlane.com), perfect for use as 'doors' on walkways between plots, to help stop pesky rabbits.

There is also an old windowless aluminium door to a greenhouse, which with the addition of a few bricks to prop it up and some old glass/polythene bags would make a nice coldframe.

We also plan to go to the local commercial estate to grab some pallets and construct a couple of compost bins.

Again not household but making the best of the surroundings

[Nicos]

EBR - hello and welcome! - we have 3 compost bins made from pallets too!

[andrewo]

You can also use car tyres to make water butts, five on top of each other and then black plastic liner, fill up and cut to size.

Also I use old greek yoghurt pots, big ones as slug traps with slug pellets inside and use litre plastic bottles as heat traps in my greenhouse.

[Lesley Jay]

Andrewo how do the yoghurt pot slug traps work? Do you sink them in the ground?

[bramble]

Old tights, cut into strips to tie in tomato plants, used CDs to hang on a string for bird scarers, sheets of polystiyrene (the type you put under laminate flooring) to line staging with (mine is metal so keeps it warm under seed trays in winter) newspaper of course, couldnt do without it ,spent tea bags to put around the roots of pot plants, helps hold moisture. Can't think of any others at the moment.

[pigletwillie]

I dont wear tights Bramble so I guess that gives my gender away (probably) so I use old inner tubes from our local cycle shop as the owner lives next door for tying in trees and tougher stuff like raspberry canes.

They have loads of uses if you have imagination.

[eskymo]

I realised today that I also use shredded scrap paper in my worm bin and in the composr bin - we've got one of those mini hand operated paper shredders that does A4 sheets and it's great. I'm thinking of using shredded paper to put under my strawberries so that the fruit don't sit on the soil and rot.

[Lesley Jay]

Eskimo I am not sure if that will work because the paper will become soggy with the rain and also with watering. So the strawberries will be sitting on soggy, wet paper.

[eskymo]

I guess you're right there! I hadn't thought of that.

[wolf320f]

workbench

an old piece of tin
two scaffold planks
old piece of trellis
nails and screws

assorted power tools patience and woodstain turns this into a heavy duty greenhouse workbench

[wolf320f]

planter/water feature

old plumbing water tanks the plastic type can be used for

water storage
planting tomatoes and the like in
water feature resevoirs

[Nicos]

retired outdoor rabbit run (with mesh top) with base mesh removed placed over lettuce etc keeps off birds and bunnies.It's covering part of our new strawberry run until we can fix up 2 sets of gates.

[pigletwillie]

I have a small gap (4`) between the end of my greenhouse and workshop. I salvaged some rather nice hardwood pallet slats and off-cuts of unistrut to make a rather posh potting bench with an overhanging canopy to prevent rain stopping play or should I say potting. A piece of left over shed felt completed the job. Total cost zip and 2 pallets salvaged out of a skip and I now have pot storage shelves and a potting bench in an otherwise dead space.

[wolf320f]

reclaimed stuff for the garden

old office furniture can be turned into allsorts,
desk tops can be cut to provide workbenches and shed shelves, or indeed replacement roof panels for sheds.

metal table frames can be used with reclamed scaffold boards to make picnic tables

metal chair frames can be turned into benches with some tlc and a few tools and reclaimed timber.

the glass holders for floating candles make good mini cloches.

old electrical cable can be used to put on walls and fences to support climbers, it soon covers up by the plants and does the trick. just nail it to the fence with staples.

a small amount of chicken wire and an old plank and you can make a soil sieve simply cut the wood and nail into a square and cover one side with the wire.

old plastic dustbins make a tidy compost and fertiliser store

metal dustbins that have several rings of 20mm holes drilled around the base make for good incinerators when raised on old bricks.

if you know anyone felling a willow tree get sections of the trunk from them and half bury them on their side and water regularly. this will root and provide a quick living willow screen with time which can be woven into shapes and domes/arches if you have the imagination. i used this method to define a paths edge and make a living pergola.

old car spray tins of paint when applied to the inside of a shed window provide a colourfull screen to stop people seeing in yet still lets in the light. its much tidier than an old net curtain and provides a contrasting colour if planned with the shed paint.

old car oil is usefull for treating stakes to be put in the ground, simply stand the stake in the oil for at least 24 hours in an old bucket, wipe off the excess and you have the stake protected for years.

the best for reclaiming is old scaffold boards and pallets as these can be used for many tasks or broken up for making other things

with my ability to turn old tat and rubbish into something usefull saving brass i ought to have been born a yorkshireman..............

[nick the grief]

I dont wear tights Bramble so I guess that gives my gender away ...

I do but thats another story .....