Beautify Using Recycled Materials

Recycled materials –everything from leftover construction stone to an old door or wheelbarrow – makeyour garden beautiful and reduce your carbon footprint a size or two. So manyitems that end up in landfills can find a second life in your landscapingproject. If you’ve recently finished construction or just have some unuseditems sitting in your garage, you’re ready to make your landscape moreinteresting and functional with recycled materials.

Found materials giveyour space a clever, creative look while saving old, seemingly useless itemsfrom the dump. Old wheelbarrows, bathtubs, shipping crates or fishtanks have adiscrete space you can dump soil into and fill with your favorite plants.Imagine a row of fishtanks with tall, gently waving greenery or brightlycolored wheelbarrows filled with flowers. Your landscape won’t look just likethe neighbor’s and you’ll have rescued items destined for the dumpster.

If you’d rather havea traditional flower bed, create a border with leftover brick. Just bury thefirst inch of each brick in the ground and line them up right next to eachother until you have a row. Use wood from old doors, windows or shippingpalates in construction projects, whether it’s a raised bed for vegetables, abirdhouse, a children’s picnic table or an outdoor chess set (with a touch ofpaint, of course.)

Section off a part ofyour garden with an old door or tall window. It will work like a privacy screenwithout the hefty price tag. Attach wood – preferably from an old buildingproject – to the back to prop them up if you don’t want to bury parts of themin the ground. If you put it near a vintage table and chairs, it will seem likeyou’re inviting guests in to a secluded, intimate dinner.

Once you’ve finisheda building project, you might think the leftover stone is useless. Think again.Create a path through your landscape with the stone; just crush it into smallpieces and spread it on the ground in an even line from one place to another.It doesn’t have to be straight. A looping path from your rain chains to yourplanter gives you the perfect route to gather water the morning after a summershower and feed your flowers as they open to the sun.

Try using recycledmaterials in your next landscaping project. Use your imagination to get rid ofall the clutter around your home – or find things on sites like Craigslist andFreecycle to supplement your project. An unused sink can become the perfectbirdbath; an old ceramic bowl turns into a compost keeper where you can storeyour old vegetable peels and fruit skins. Your space will be original and planet-friendly when you use recycled materials in yourlandscaping projects.