Recycling Ideas

I love using repurposed materials around the yard, so I’ve made this collection of rustic garden ideas to share with you!

As a rule, gardens are FULL of purpose from the flowers that bring joy to our life to the vegetables that bring us nutrients and the different plants that bring us health through medicinal properties. Why are we so quick to turn such a natural and green experience and environment into such a unnatural, new and shiny focus point?

Repurposed materials are my favorite way of bringing the garden back its natural state of beauty.

Unusual Garden Planters

Unusual garden planters are a great way to add unique elements to your garden.  If you live in a place with good soil, then this isn’t an issue. However, most of the places I’ve lived had terrible clay like soil, making it impossible to grow anything. We had to get creative. Rustic garden ideas for planters might include using reclaimed lumber or privacy fence, like the pictures below, or you can use pallets, canoes or cinder blocks.

When I lived in an apartment, I couldn’t do anything to permanently alter my yard. I still had options so I used containers. Some were used feed containers that my uncle gave me and some were trash cans that I found in the university dumpsters, but you can also use burlap sacks, whiskey or wine barrels as a more natural, cohesive looking solution.

Tires are also a great solution and most tire shops would probably give them to you free because they have to pay to get rid of them. The big tractor tires are especially hard to get rid of because most recycling options do not accept that big of a tire, so if you have a farm friend, you might just hit the planter jackpot!

Garden Ideas

These rustic garden ideas are pretty easy to find or adapt to use things you already have. Trellises, furniture, and recycled garden art ideas are really just limited to your imagination. Here’s a couple of examples of things we have in our gardens.

Trellises

Old ladders are probably the easiest and most readily available repurposed trellis.

But I also have seen some bed springs used as a beautiful trellis, also these stacked bicycle wheels trellis (Which I would love to have someday) and these most creatively used crutches I’ve ever seen. Check out this trellis made from an old screen door.

Upcycled Garden Furniture

Furniture is essential if you plan to relax in your garden. Big electrical spools are popular, they have all sizes, big enough for a table and you can even find some small enough to sit on.

There is so much creativity in the world, check out these Cast iron tubs turned into a sofa, using belts to fix a lawn chair , and so much more!

Recycled Garden Art Ideas

This category has most of my favorite rustic garden ideas. Literally, there is nothing you can’t make into a gardening decoration. As you will see, our family is a big fan of upcycling and repurposing.

We have bird houses made from repurposed wood, gourds, license plates, and even an oven vent. We used a couple of thrifted tea cups and saucers to use for bird feeders.

This garden stepping stone patio made from repurposed materials was a huge undertaking. We made more than 507 stepping stones with broken glass, marbles, china and various glass pieces or other natural decorations.

Using an old Folger’s Coffee can, bottle caps, pop tables and fishing line, I made this wind chime.

And just other assorted goodies, such as chair planters, glass mulch, garden signs from old tin and a repurposed hose wreath made with a busted garden hose, burlap ribbon, flowers and other decorations we had in our craft closet.

Fairy Garden

This fairy garden made from an old wheel barrow is adorable. Check out ideas to make your own fairy garden here.

Composting

One of my favorite ways of repurposing in my garden is through composting. There are many ways to do it, for small spaces like mine I went with a vermicomposter that uses stackable kitty litter containers. As my worm populations grow, then I can just continue to add more containers.

If you’re interested in learning about vermicomposting, which is perfect for small spaces, subscribe for a free printable poster to remind you what to put in your worm bin.

Another way to add rustic garden ideas into your garden is with a compost bin. You can make it as simple or as elegant as you want. Composting is a great to repurpose in your garden from bin to the actual compost. You can also build your own composter out of fence panels, or other repurposed wood materials. My mom wanted a compost bin that was easier to turn. So she has this 55 gallon composting barrel that she turns every so often. It’s all up to you and your spacial limitations, but look at this beautiful compost!

Food waste is a huge problem in the US. So, instead of spending money on compost, fertilizer and other nutrients to amend the soil, we can just make our own. It’s a win-win! If you’re not sold on using compost in your garden, check out the amazing benefits compost has over fertilizer in the garden.

If you’re looking for free or low-cost gardening resources, check out this post. If you’re interested in learning in repurposing wood chips, leaves, sticks and other natural things from the yard to make mulch, please check out Little Sprouts Learning Garden to learn how!

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