Child’s Pool Becomes Valuable Garden Tool

Don’t throw away that worn and leaky kid’s swimming pool. Instead, put it to work in your garden.

The flexible pools make great tarps for dragging leaves and weeds to the compost pile. Or set them in the trunk or back of your car when transporting plants and other messy items.

The rigid plastic pools slide easily over grassy beds and mulched paths. Simply attach a rope handle and you’re in business.

Use these for transporting plants. Set the pool into the back of a van or SUV when heading to the garden center. Then get a friend to help carry the pool full of plants out of the car and into the garden.

Or use them when hardening off your transplants. Fill them with plants in early spring. Make sure there are drainage holes. Cover the plants or slide the pool, plants and all, into a protective location when there’s a danger of frost.

A bit more information: Look for other creative uses for discarded items. Old boots, kids rain boots, popcorn tins and colanders make great planters. Play structures can create a perfect trellis for your favorite vine or support for an adult size swing. And old plates and garden tools can be worked into garden art.