Green gardening is becoming popular. More and more families are beginning to recycle materials in imaginative ways. After the Great British Spring Clean we had fun converting old buoys and I found washed up on Solent shores into swings for the children. I’ve been sent a few more ideas on how to re-purpose materials for your garden:
Bird feeder – Garden birds eat harmful insects and help pollinate plants. It’s well worth keeping a bird table to encourage them to visit regularly. Rather than spend money on buying a commercial bird feeder, try using different materials to make your own. I collect plastic bottles the whole time when picking up litter and always have a selection in my recycling bin. The BBC recommend converting a round plastic bottle with a cap, using two willow sticks, a drawing pin, and some string. The sticks serve as perches. When collecting marine plastic, I often find pieces of strong PVC string ideal for hanging up something like this. Once you’ve finished the construction, fill the bottle with bird seed or sunflower seeds and hang it from a tree where song birds can enjoy a bit of cover. It’s a much better option than throwing the plastic bottle in the bin. For info on how to create a recycled bird feeder, please click here.
Cloches – Plastic bottles cut in half make ideal cloches or mini greenhouses to protect and bring on seedlings. Use the top half, without the cap, to bring on plants when you need to allow hot air to escape as conditions warm up.
Use cooking pots as planters – Most households will have several forgotten cooking pots lying around. Try transforming them into decorative planters. You can use string, small rocks, or shells to give them more personality and create a feature in a small space.
Walls, fences and hedges define the boundaries of any garden and contribute hugely to the atmosphere within. Country Living suggest using reclaimed timber such as drift wood if you are thinking of putting up a new fence. I was amazed to find an inexpensive selection of natural garden dividers at Screwfix made from bamboo or reeds. These sustainable plants can create an effective screen that provides added interest as well as privacy. It’s possible to create your own if you can gather enough materials.
Sustainable garden furniture – It can be expensive to buy garden furniture, which is often made out of plastic. Country and Townhouse explain how sustainable furniture is being made from materials otherwise intended for the landfill. EnviroBuild’s all-weather Rattan garden furniture is a good example of modern design that makes a useful addition to your garden. It’s made using recycled polyethylene.
Turn tin cans into patio lanterns – I find we have a number of tin cans in our weekly recyling, which can be used for a multitude of purposes. Clean them up, give them a good coat of luminescent or glow-in-the-dark paint, then make a few holes in them, or cut holes in the shape of moons and stars, to turn them into outdoor lanterns. You can use battery-operated tea lights or small solar lights so it’s safe to leave them outdoors.
House numbers made out of recycled coffee cups – Many companies are now helping gardeners use recycled materials. We found some very handsome ECO House Numbers, made using recycled coffee cups, that come with a 300-year guarantee. You can find them, along with other ideas here.
You’ll be surprised at how many things you can create from unused materials from your house or litter found while out walking. All it takes is a little imagination and a little time. Do let me know of any ideas or things you have made in the comments below.
Sophie Neville 
Some brilliant ideas here, thank you Sophie. I shall try using plastic bottles to make a couple of bird feeders, as a start.
Thanks. We have to put bird feeders in cages for fear of creating a restaurant for birds of prey.
I don’t get many birds of prey round here, but thanks for the tip!