Reuse/Recyle/Repurpose in the Garden

Some folks might think I was a hoarder, since I don't like to throw functional things away. Who knows when I might need something, and if I have stuff stored in a convenient place, it saves me a trip to the hardware store, or wherever. For example, I buy eggs in cardboard cartons. I can use them to start seeds, or rip them up for my compost pile if I need something dry to add in with too much moist waste. A friend of mine who was redoing a bathroom had extra tiles of many sizes. The 4 inch square ones can be broken up and used in mosaic pieces. I used the longer narrow ones as plant markers. Take a sharpie permanent marker, and write the name of the plant on the tile, and just place it into the pot, or glue it onto a popsicle stick and stick it in the soil.

A few other ideas I've used:

--Newspaper can be shredded and used in the compost pile, or as a weed barrier. Place six layers of newspaper on the area, then cover with mulch. As the paper decomposes, it also feeds the soil, and gets rid of weeds at the same time. Worms love to eat the paper, and their castings enrich the soil.

--Wine corks and foam peanuts from packing boxes can be used in the bottom of big pots to keep the soil loose and give the pot good drainage.

--small jars with tight-fitting lids can be used to store seeds, herbs, anything small.

--Old pots can be reused as planter liners, which can be switched out in each season by filling with a new plant.

--A used shower curtain makes a good liner for your trunk or back seat when transporting dirty stuff from the nursery that could spill and mess up your car.

--used nylon panythose can be cut up and used as delicate plant ties.

--plastic silverware can also be used as plant markers.

--I put colorful old bottles in the garden among my plants, for some added color and interest.

--shells and small stones can be placed on the top of the soil of potted plants to add some interest. You can also put them in a water feature and watch the water cascade over them.

--I've seen old toilets, kids cribs or bassinets, even wheel barrows used as planters. Just be sure there is a way for water to drain out, so as not to drown your plants.

--I like going to garage sales and seeing what kind of neat stuff I can find to put in my garden to give it an individual, one of a kind look. Planters, pots, bottles, statues, stands, who knows what might capture my imagination?

When I put in my new landscape, I went around the house to see what kinds of things I might find that could stay outside and add some interest and "funkiness" to my newly-planted space. Stones and shells looked great on my little wall, and the lizards like to hang out around them and do their little push-ups!

Red Banana Plant - Ensete

In the tropical corridor that is the side yard of my garden, the side of the house soars to over 40 feet, with large windows and large blank walls. There were already some tropical influences present in the aeonioums, ferns, Bird of Paradise, and Sago and Pygmy Palms that resided there. I had a tall, blank, white space to fill and wasn't sure what was going to work there. It's also a wind tunnel, so I needed to be mindful of that as well.

Traipsing through a local nursery center, I saw a few Ensetes off in a corner. The height, the red-tipped colorful and humungous leaves drew me towards these specimens. They grow in full sun or partial shade, require medium moisture (not a problem in the spot I needed to fill), and will grow to over 30 feet tall! As I had room on either side of the plant, it didn't matter that this bold statement would require 10-15 ft to spread its wings. I love the colorful burgundy and green color, the tropical flavor it adds to the area, and the way the leaves sway in the breeze.

It has yet to flower and fruit, but even if it never does, it is still a striking looking specimen. Fruit, when produced, are dry and unpalatable. The leaves eventually fall and decompose quite readily, though when I cut the leaves off, the stems are very fleshy and full of water. Also known as Abyssinian Banana, Ethiopian Banana, Ensete ventricosum is an African native that will die back in areas that get frost. Lift the plants before first frost, cut back the long roots, and reduce top growth to the newest 2-3 leaves. Though they like a sheltered area, mine seems to be doing ok even in its windy spot. Sometimes subject to spider mites or aphids.

Bamboo

I could write a book on Bamboo (Poaceae, or Giant Grasses), and many folks already have! My Sunset Western Garden book lists 3 pages of varieties. You can find running bamboos that grow like weeds from underground rhizomes. There are also clumping varieties where the rhizomes spread only a very short distance from the parent plant before sending up a stem. This is very important to consider in your planting space! I have seen walls of bamboo that tower over 20 ft high, with stems easily a foot around in circumference. Some grow quickly, and others take a few years before they mature. Fertilizer and water will help plants grow more quickly, so if you don't want your garden to be overtaken, hold back on both. The photo to the right shows a tall bamboo behind the sculpture (taken in the Bamboo Garden at Quail Botanical Garden in Encinitas, CA).

Bamboos aren't attacked by many pests or diseases. Many are hardy to below frost temperatures. There are bamboos that are used as ground covers, as they grow only a few inches tall. Some clumping varieties resemble a green fountain, and these are quite useful in the garden, especially if you have a small space. One of these varieties is called Bambusa multiplex "Golden Goddess" and it is pictured above. I chose this variety because it is a clumping variety which will not overtake the small space it is planted in, and will also soften the look of the wall it is planted in front of. It also leads one through to the side yard.

There is yet a third group, the running types that grow upright, and can be used as a screen or hedge. The fourth group are the Giants, and, as mentioned, I've seen these used between homes with zero lot lines (such as where I live) as beautiful and effective "green curtains" that lend alot of tropical feel the what would otherwise be a large boring wall. When the Goddess slightly overgrows the path, I can cut her back, but I like her free-flowing structure. Since bamboos are grasses, sometimes they need to be confined to the space you've planted them in. Methods include an underground barrier, actively chopping off the rhizomes, or digging a small trench around the clump and hacking off the rhizomes as they enter this space. Don't be afraid to plant pot-bound bamboos as they are the ones that will get off to the best start in your garden.