Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Today I wanted to tell you about how you can recycle household items for your garden! You save the environment and you save money! What could be better! It’s also a good time to start saving your recyclables now so that you’ll have everything you need for Spring!

Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are good to spread around blueberries, azaleas, and all other acid loving plants. It’s also a wonderful natural way to keep slugs away from your Hostas! You can use it as a waker-upper in your general garden in the Spring- it’ll give everything a good jolt! After all, you need coffee- why should your plants be different?

Milk Jugs/ Cartons

Clear milk jugs can be used as mini greenhouses in early Spring to help protect your plants from frost and pests. They can also be buried half or three-quarters deep in soil next to your brand new rose to help with watering! Just puncture the bottom and the water will gradually filter to the roots where your rose needs it most! It’s also a good measuring tool for how much water your roses are getting- they need about a gallon a week. One more use is that you can cut the gallon into strips that you can use as labels- make sure one end comes to a point.

I also keep one around to dillute my fertilizer. Usually about two tablespoons per gallon of water is all that is needed-it’s pre measured and ready to use!

If you happen to use the wax/box cartons- you can cut it in half and use it as a container for starting seeds!

Wow! Lots of uses for an old jug!

Newspaper and Old Paper

If you happen to have a cross-cut shredder, then you have a gardener’s best friend! Just shred up all that junk mail, and old papers and use them as an additive to your soil that worms will love! When planting roses, it helps keep moisture in. You can also use shredded paper as a way to use less soil- add it in to take up extra space. Shredded paper and newspaper nourishes the soil because it rots, and is biodegradable. Don’t worry about ink, most places use lead free ink these days.

Use old Newspaper as a weed barrier either around roses and other plants or simply to keep grass from invading your flower bed. When creating a new bed I use un-shredded newspaper, folded in half, and then I edge a bed with it- therefore creating a 12 inch deep barrier between the grass and the new bed.

Who thought an old newspaper could be this useful?!

Stay Tuned for Part Two where I will tell you about bananas, egg shells, and other recyclables you can use in your garden!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

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