Recyclables Find New Life in the Garden

Save money and be kind to the environment by putting discarded plastic milk jugs, soda bottles and detergent containers to work in your landscape.

Remove a portion of a detergent bottle leaving the handle intact. Use your new scoop for filling containers with soil or your bird feeders with seed.

Milk jugs and soda bottles have several uses. Remove the bottom and cover small tender plants to protect them from frost. Remove the lid to vent or cap it off for extra warmth on chilly nights.

Or use your milk jug as a watering can. I like the Eco-spout. This new device allows you to create a gentler stream of water.

Create a drip watering device with two liter soda and glass wine bottles. Attach this perforated plastic Aqua Cone to a water-filled soda bottle. Set it in the garden or container, cone side down.

Or place your favorite wine bottle in one of these terra cotta (Plant Nanny) cones and set it amongst the plants.

A bit more information: Use straight sided cans for capturing slugs, measuring irrigation water, or cutworm collars. Fill several cans with stale beer and sink into the soil throughout slug-susceptible plantings. The slugs are attracted to the beer, crawl inside and drown. Or scatter cans around the yard when sprinkling. When the cans are filled with needed water (they are your measuring tool) you can move your sprinkler to the next location. Or remove the bottom of the can and place it around new transplants. Sink a bit of it into the ground, leaving an inch above the soil to prevent cutworms from damaging your new plantings.