While gardening is always fun, it is even more rewarding when you incorporate sustainability and upcycling into your routine! Here are 5 suggestions from expert gardeners to help you become a better gardener, including anything from seedling care to bug management.
#1. Make plastic containers into seed labels.
This amazing gardening tip can be a life saver when organizing your garden. Consider plastic ice cream tubs, cream cheese, and yogurt containers. With scissors, cut them into pieces that are a few centimeters wide. On the blank side, write the names of the seeds using an eraser pen and permanent ink.
#2. Repurpose eggshells
Like most gardening projects, start gathering eggshells now so you’ll have plenty to plant in the early spring. You could use eggshells as seed containers rather than plastic ones!
The used, fractured shells should be washed and dried. After that, insert the earth inside. Put a seed there, cover it with soil, and watch nature’s miracles happen! You can crush your seedlings after sprouting and leaving the nursery and use the crushed eggshells as fertilizer.
#3. Keep seedlings safe with milk jugs.
The grown seedlings may need further care after being put into the ground and placed in the soil. Keep plastic milk jugs on hand for this purpose. Be creative and proactive in your gardening routines.
The plastic milk jug’s cap should be removed, and the top and bottom should be severed. After that, center the jug over the fragile seedlings. Both bugs and late frost will be kept away from them. Young plants won’t be harmed by sunlight penetrating the plastic through the top. Take them out of the jar once they are strong enough to live and keep them for the subsequent seeds.
#4. Make Seed Trays from Pallets by Upcycling Them Into Pallets.
A great tip for you is to turn wood pallets into DIY seed trays. Use less plastic in your garden and start recycling more frequently now. Due to their fragility and propensity to shred and disintegrate over time, seed trays inevitably wind up in landfills. Don’t utilize them at all costs; be creative.
Pallets that have been “HT” (heat treated) are a reliable and healthy option. To confirm that the wood is poisonous, ensure the pallets are marked with the inscription “MB” (for the chemical methyl bromide). If you are working with good-quality pallets, you can pick the size and shape of your seed containers and then enjoy reusing them over and over.
#5. Plant flowers for organic pest control.
Growing flowers allows you to add natural scenery to your landscape while keeping pests at bay in a sustainable manner. Most local environmental authorities recommend companion planting, which is cultivating an arrangement of flowers between your vegetables. The most natural insect repellent plants are borage or lavender, marigolds, clover, and chrysanthemums.