How to Repurpose Old Items for Gardening

Do you want to be able to save money by repurposing old items? Thinking outside the box will help us all to not have to throw so much in landfills. Then we don’t have to buy additional items either.

Bath Scrubbers

Do you use plastic bath scrubbers to take a shower or bath? I read once you should change them every month. This is probably a ploy to get us to purchase one more often. But even if you don’t subscribe to that idea and use them until they are almost falling apart, you can reuse them.

Use Bath Scrubbers in the bottom of a pot you are going to repot. They take up space without adding weight. And saves you money so you don’t have to buy as much potting soil. You can also use Brillo Pads once they are free from the soap, and they will also add iron and other micronutrients to the soil.

Barbeque brushes can be used for garden clean up Use them to scrape off crud from pots, tools shoes, and even the underside of the mower. I was even thinking of using one for cleaning the chicken’s food and water containers. Of course, I would keep those separate from the other barbeque brushes I would use for other items.

Brooms– use an old broom to even out any compost, manure, or topsoil that you sprinkle on garden beds. Got an old push broom? Turn it upside down, mount it on a board, and you’ve got a cheap and reliable footwear cleaner for the back door.

Broom Handle– Now a use for the broom handle! Use it as is or cut to fit for staking up tomato plants, or young trees. You can also cut one down and add it to the edges of the garden where you don’t want the hose to accidentally maim tender perennials or veggies.

Items You Might Have Thrown Out

Bubble wrap– Use to top your compost bin to keep the rain out (if needed) or moisture in if it’s sunny, this would mostly only work if you have a huge sheet. If you have a large selection of it, add it around your garden if you have deer trying to get in. The deer doesn’t want to walk on bubble wrap. Hold it down with boards, bricks, or rocks to keep deer out. This last one is my favorite! Use it as a row cover to protect your plants from the frost.

Have an old bucket that you can drill drainage holes in? Drill holes in the bottom of a small bucket, that is the key, small so you don’t accidentally step in it and turn your ankle. You will bury it amongst your shrubs. Then when you are weeding/ working in your flower garden, toss debris in the bucket and let it start to break down. When the bucket is full, recycle it into your compost pile.

Do you have some old tablecloths that have stains or you aren’t using at the present? You can use them as a row cover. We also save sheets from beds that we don’t have the size for anymore. I keep them with my gardening tools.

Many Items Can be Repurposed

Here I am showing you an old sock with a hole in it, I cut it in half lengthwise and placed it in the bottom of a pot that another plant came in this spring. That way, all the soil won’t leach out when it is watered. I am going to make some grapevine cuttings and try to propagate them in my garage and sell them in the spring.

Other things you can use in the bottom of container gardens: Air filters, broken pot shards, coffee filters, eggshells, and old socks. I got these ideas from an old Jerry Baker Supermarket Super Gadgets book I found while rearranging books in my house. I hope some of these ideas help you if you are trying to save money like me. Are there ideas that you have heard of that you want to share? Let me know in the comments below.

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