Recycling In The Garden – Reclaiming Old or Salvaged Material

Ok, ok, I’ve never been much good at recycling household stuff… and yes I do feel guilty about my lack of effort. But when I stopped and took a closer look at items in my yard, I realize I actually have been pretty good at reclaiming old or unused materials for various parts of my hardscaping projects. Not awesome, but pretty good.

While I have spent a pretty penny buying shiny new items at stores, there are many things I didn’t spend a dime on. There is also one item in particular that I spent lots of pennies on, but it’s made from recycled material, so I feel good about it.

Let’s start with my deck. When we first put it in we went with redwood. Talk about beautiful … until about 2 years later. After 4 years of cleaning, sanding, re-staining this gorgeous wood we pulled it up and replaced it with Trex. Pricey, but after 10 years and no maintenance whatsoever, it was well worth the cost. These days they make Trex boards that look like wood grain. Kinda wish I had that, but I’m still uber-happy with my Trex deck (made from recycled plastics and wood fibers). What did we do with the redwood planks? We created some planters from them.

About 15 years ago the city was replacing a sidewalk nearby and had dumped the broken up concrete by the side of the road waiting for crews to come clean it up. I seized the opportunity to grab a few smaller pieces to incorporate into a garden path. These babies were h-e-a-v-y. If I had a way to get the larger pieces, I certainly would have. They make GREAT flat surfaces perfect for paths.

When visiting my husband’s parents in Wyoming one year, we found some great driftwood by a dry river bed. Picked up just a few pieces to put into our perimeter garden beds.

In 2002, Colorado was in a serious drought. My sister Sindi created a humorous windchime for me using recycled plastic bottles. This is my Colorado Windchime.

You never know what you’ll find on the side of the road. Someone had cut down a cottonwood tree and left some stumps on the side of the road. These were very light, as cottonwood isn’t a dense wood. They found a good home in the perimeter garden beds in the back amidst all the greenery. Looked quite natural.

This arbor bench was brand new when I purchased it about 12 years ago, but has become weathered and is falling apart in some spots. However, the bench itself is still very sturdy. We’re going to redo the sides and make some bench arms for it. Will probably cut off part of the tall back, but not sure yet. We have two of these. A future project awaits.

When we moved into our neighborhood in 1996 it was brand spanking new. We were one of 5 other houses for many blocks. We got into it at the beginning. Now, there are nearly 1000 homes here. Early on as new homes were being built around us there were unused materials left behind each home that was built. We talked to the general contractor at the time and asked if we could take some of the materials left over. Since the material would have gone to the dump anyway, he was happy to let us take what we wanted.  We were able to grab a lot of bricks and stones. At one time there was even a very large pile of rocks that had been dug up when they were digging the foundations. We found many unearthed flat stones that were perfect when incorporated into paths and patios.

Another future salvage project: My old greenhouse is falling apart, but I’m going to reuse the clear panels and use them on our deck patio cover to help keep the rain from falling through so much. At least that’s the plan.

At one time I had a gardening company and as I removed old materials from clients gardens for new materials, they were happy to let me take what I wanted. I got a lot of flagstone, bricks, and pavers this way. Some of them have already been incorporated into a few of my garden beds, but I still have some for future projects. Certainly better than throwing them in the trash.

I know someone, somewhere must have good ideas for reusing old pallets. I just know it. I’m holding onto these 3 pallets until I become inspired and figure out the perfect project for them.

And buried beneath some soil, mulch and plants in one of my flower beds, there is some old carpet I used to smother grass so I could create a flower bed instead. I read about it online somewhere. Worked like a charm.

So there you have it. My own personal contributions to recycling in the garden. Not groundbreaking, I’ll agree. But an effort just the same.

I’ll bet if you take a closer look at your yard and gardens you’ll find items you’ve recycled, salvaged, or repurposed. If you find something, let us know!

Last 3 posts by Andrea Kalli

• I Hit The Tomato Motherload This Weekend - Topsy Turvy Update 9-5-2010 - September 7th, 2010
• My List of Gardening Books - Part 1 - September 3rd, 2010
• Events at Hudson Gardens in September 2010 - September 1st, 2010

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