Put old items to use

Like philosopher, Edward de Bono said, “there is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress and we would be repeating the same old patterns.”
This also applies to our homes where a number of things in your house can be transformed into useful assets for your garden. Transform old things such as used tyres, saucepans, buckets, bottles, jerry cans, bottle tops, clothes, wine corks, shoes and many others into useful objects that would make your garden even more attractive. Here is expert insight on reusing things that would otherwise be thrown away.

Old tyres
Old tyres can be hard to dispose of because of their immense size. “But there are a number of things that old tyres can be used for in gardening. These include; tyre stairs, tyre planters, flower pots, outdoor furniture, tyred lawns and sand tubs for children to play in. For instance if your garden is steep, you could make use of a number of tyres to make garden stairs.

A stairway that is made of well-arranged tyres will be a stop for visitors. Painting them with colours of your choice makes them more attractive,” highlights Mr Pius Oketcho, a compound designer, Williams exterior designers.
Flower pots and decorative vases are the easiest things to make out of tyres. Stellah Mukhwana, a designer, saysany tyre shape you make makes a good flower vase or pot. These can also be painted to add glamour to them. It would take a trained eye to notice they are tyres,” she notes.

Old clothes
A number of people will look for the nippiest means to get rid of old clothes. Some will set them on fire while as others will simply throw them or give them away. However, worn out and old clothes make gardening less stressful as Edward Muhindo, a gardener with Discoveries designers explains.
For instance Jeans make good gardening gloves. He says you can cut the old jeans according to the size of your fingers and stitch them into gloves. Gardening gloves made out of jeans are durable and keep your hands protected from thorny plants and flowers.

Bottles
These are dangerous if disposed poorly. Instead of dealing with the task of disposal, ingenious gardeners put them to use by making a number of garden accessories out of them. “You can make outdoor lights out of bottles, especially wine or whiskey bottles and other long-necked bottles. Bottles make beautiful lamp holders for any outdoor decor. They add a feeling of glam and tradition to your compound,” notes Oketcho.
He adds, “Besides bottles serving as growing areas for flowers, their bases are ideal for edging gardens. They provide an impenetrable base that gives protection to the plants and soil does not easily run off. Moreover, weeds do not easily grow through them, giving the gardens a weed free edge”.

Wine corks
Ideally, wine corks make good mulch as Martin Magomu, a gardener asserts, “‘cork mulch’ is rarely used because gathering wine corks is a task on its own and chopping the corks and grinding them is another hustle. However, it’s worth the toil. He alludes to the fact that enough corks when ground make good mulch for flower gardens and pots. Magomu says cork mulch helps the soil to retain water for a longer time.

Bottle tops
A number of people take soda on a daily basis. Bottle tops are one of the most available objects in homes, bars, on the streets and pathways.
Gather a number of them and nail them on pieces of wood aligned in the shape of your choice to create door mats. These mats are ideal for removing heavy mud from shoes and sandals.