REUSEING IN YOUR BACKYARD

The most thrilling part of my job is when I get to be creative. Especially with the things that are already existing in the garden. One such case was with a client that had a bunch of old big concrete pavers in side yard that we reused in her back yard and subsequently planted in between them. This was a great solution and it allowed for movement through the garden with spaces for her to plant some edibles and anything else that suited her fancy. Most of the plants that we used in her garden were either California native or edible.

The bench that you see in the picture to the left was her old concrete driveway that would have otherwise collected dust in the landfill. Now this client has a nice space to sit with her morning cup of coffee enjoying the bird songs. If you really think about it there are many things that can be reused. Maybe perhaps your parents have a garage filled with antique treasures that they no longer have need for that you can re-purpose on your garden.

Do you have a really long and narrow side yard with not a whole lot of room. Then how about using some old pavers and bricks to make a path. All you have to do is set the pavers in the ground (without concrete and mortar) and use mulch as the grout. This gives you the option to be able to plant and also have a path way.

The really nice part is that you don't have to spend a lot of money. All you need is to think outside the box and color outside the lines and you just might have (find) something in your garden that has many different uses to take advantage of.