6 everyday items you can use in your garden

With plants, tools and other accessories, growing a garden can become an expensive endeavour. However, you can save money and give new life to old stuff by using these six everyday items in your garden.

• To save on potting soil, you can put recycled paper egg cartons in the bottoms of planting containers
• They retain moisture at the roots, which saves watering time
• Soak the cartons overnight and break them up into chunks before adding soil to the pots

• When your frying pans get old, reuse them as saucers for your flowerpots
• The handles make it very convenient to move flowerpots around your yard

• If you grow many plants from seed, you'll want to make a cold frame for the tender seedlings
• You can make these from old windows, wherever you can find them, perhaps donated from friends remodelling their homes
• Then you can start seeds early with guaranteed success

• Every spring, you can set out plastic trash cans to gather rainwater
• Keep watering cans handy so you can dip and go as needed
• Once a month, mix in plant food
• Using rainwater reduces the water bill and decreases wear on the water pump — plus there's no heavy hose to drag around

• When it's time to tie tomato plants to stakes, head into the garden with a roll of surveyor's plastic flagging tape
• It is very inexpensive, and it comes in bright colours like pink, orange, blue and green
• You can tear the plastic tape just by pulling on it — no tools are required. Plus, it won't damage the stalks when it is wrapped around them
• Don't forget to include a roll of this handy tape in gift baskets for gardening friends

• To make your decorative mulch go further, you can rake up fallen pine needles and spread them around the plants
• Then cover the free pine needles with your purchased mulch
• With the pine needles below, you don't need as thick a layer of mulch

With a little creativity you can save some money as well as saving some everyday items from the landfill. Your garden and your gardening budget will thank you!