Recycled treasures create garden beauty

Recycling is popular in today’s society, but the idea rarely conjures up visions of beauty. Mention the word and your first thought may be the aluminum can depository or even the blue tubs you place at the curbside for pick up. It seems wherever I go, savvy gardeners are making treasures out of items that most of us would never think of including in a garden.

One Mississippi Delta home had a very large garden that was flourishing thanks to soil preparation, which is where my first thoughts of recycling come from. The flowers were all planted on raised beds comprised of soil and what most people call gin trash, a byproduct of the cotton industry.

Throughout the South, cotton is still king and gins leave behind this black gold. Trash it isn’t; recyclable it is — and organic-rich, too. Once it has been composted, this product is a gardener’s dream come true. If you have gins in your community, check the pH before planting, as the gin trash tends to be above 7, meaning acid-loving plants like azaleas or camellias will prefer a different mix.

That Delta gardener also took great advantage of old homes and buildings that were being torn down. She would go to great lengths to make sure she had first option on these relics. Her garden included colorful doors and windows used in several places.

A wall separating property lines in her large backyard was built from old lumber. It had a couple of colorfully-framed old windows hung on the wall. The windows had mirrors instead of glass. When you look at it directly you think you are looking through a window rather than looking at the garden behind you. The wall was covered with interesting yard art and other recycled treasurers including an old bicycle that belonged to her mother-in-law.

There was a special outdoor room called Margaritaville. Here the colorful 1950s-style red furniture was artfully arranged on a floor of old recycled brick that was hand-laid by the gardener. The moss-covered brick is heirloom in appearance. Then there was the special green door that appeared as if it wanted to be opened. It too had a mirror creating an illusion.

The most unique feature in the garden was the five old white columns lining a more formal parterre garden. These columns from came from an old home being torn down and gave a ghostly Southern archaeological feel to the garden.

Another home I visited had made wonderful use of an old fireplace mantle in their special outdoor room. It was the perfect complement to a cozy retreat. In front of the mantle there were tropical plants like Black Magic elephant ear, giant taro and philodendron.

What I liked most, however, was a large shutter hanging on the fence close by. The green shutter was hand painted with a colorful flower served its purpose much like a fine oil masterpiece would indoors.

One of my all-time favorites was an old chandelier hanging from an oak tree over the deck. Outfitted with candles, it created the perfect ambience for eating outside. Treasures like these may be at the old house across the street or across the tracks or even forgotten in your attic. The real point is to not let these items go to waste. If they can’t be used to assist in re-building, they can be incredibly useful in the landscape.

Summer is here and now is the time to survey your own landscape and see if there are some areas you can develop into paradisiacal retreats using not only plants but recycled treasures.