7 Ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in the Garden This Year

Waste isn’t a problem in the natural world. Old leaves, branches, and dead animals decay into nutrients that plants can access. Fungi, bacteria, and archaea digest large debris particles and turn them into smaller ones. Roots soak up these small particles, engorging themselves with nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Leaving things be, making compost, and engaging with your garden are easy ways to utilize this natural decomposition process. We’ll also explore how to save seeds and sticks for future use to save money and time. 

Gardening doesn’t have to be expensive! Everyday objects you already have are often great substitutes for pricey ones from the store. Reduce, reuse, and recycle in this year’s garden, and you’ll help yourself, your plants, and your local environment. 

Start a Compost Pile

Composting in your garden is the best way to practice reducing, reusing, and recycling. It harnesses microbes that eat dead waste, turning it into humus-rich soil for your garden. Starting a compost pile is simple and easy, requiring a pitchfork, waste, and an open site. 

Two main types of composting exist: cold and hot composting. Cold compost relies on slow working processes over many months, while hot compost piles are ready in as little as 18 days! Both styles require green and brown debris to work well.

Green debris, or waste, includes grass clippings, kitchen scraps, and fleshy plant debris. Brown waste includes carbon-rich materials like fall leaves, straw, and paper waste. You’ll want to shovel two scoops of brown waste for every shovelful of green waste. 

Alternate the waste types until you create a pile that’s three feet wide, long, and tall. Here is where your pitchfork helps! You’ll stab it into the pile and turn the waste over on itself. Turn daily for hot compost and monthly for cold compost. 

The last factor is moisture. Compost piles like to be 50% moist, like a wrung-out sponge. Some water should seep out when you grasp a clump of it and squeeze. Composting can be confusing! This guide takes you through each step and simplifies the process. 

Bury Debris

Composting may not be possible for your household. Maybe you live where it’s prohibited, or rats and mice are frequent visitors to the yard. Burying the waste deep underground is an alternative option; it saves space in landfills while boosting the nutritional content of your garden soil. 

The best things to bury and compost are organic materials that decompose naturally. Some cheese, meat, and dairy products are okay. Avoid putting large meat or dairy scraps, and let the small ones decompose before adding more. 

Bury debris a foot deep or more to ensure rats, mice, and other digging creatures can’t access it. Worms, microbes, and soil-dwelling bugs will eat the debris, turning it into loose, porous soil. When plant roots grow into the space, they’ll be happy to find the fertile, rich soil pockets where waste used to be. 

Debris needs some time to turn into soil underground. Mark your dug holes with sticks so you don’t accidentally dig them early. It’s best to wait six months or longer before burying more organic materials in the same location.

Use Fall Leaves

Fall leaves are abundant, free, and they’re the perfect garden materials for recycling and reusing! Don’t throw them away; instead, repurpose them in your yard. Fall leaves can turn into fertilizer for your lawn, ingredients for your compost, or homes for sensitive wildlife. 

Insects like fireflies and beetles rely on leaves in autumn. They set up winter homes under them where they stay safe from excess moisture, frost, and predators. Leaves benefit the predators too, though, as they offer a buffet for curious birds and small mammals. I’ve seen many crows use their beaks to pick up leaves and look under them for grub.

Layer leaves on your garden beds, containers, and raised beds to help these creatures. You’ll also insulate tender plant roots, providing a warm blanket for them during winter. 

Fall leaves also work well as brown waste in compost. You’ll need green waste to balance it with. If you only have leaves, consider making leaf mold. It’s like compost, requiring turning, water, and air, though it’s made entirely of leaves! 

Mulch the Lawn

Lawns require regular fertilizer to stay green, perky, and dense. You’ll break the bank trying to keep up with their needs! Mulch leaves and grass clippings back into the lawn to provide them with free fertilizer. The leaves decay between the grass blades, offering nutrients, structure, and porosity for growing grass roots. 

Mulching fall leaves is easy if you own a lawn mower with a mulching feature. Most mowers have a plug that replaces the bag. Instead of sucking the cut leaves and grass into the bag, your mower will chop them up and spit them out back into your lawn.

This practice keeps your lawn green for free! If there are already too many leaves on the lawn, you can rake or blow them into your garden beds where they’ll protect perennials, shrubs, and trees. 

Reuse Containers

Starts and potted plants from nurseries come in plastic pots. These plastic containers are one of the main reasons why gardening contributes to landfills! Instead of throwing them out, you can recycle and reuse them for later use in the garden. They’re perfect for seed starting, container gardening, and houseplant growing. 

Choose a cool, dark, dry site for storing the plastic pots. Avoid contact with direct sunlight, as it causes them to crack, splinter, and break down. They’ll last many years when you store them under these conditions.

Gardeners who start seeds in spring should save their containers. You’ll need them to start peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants indoors. Many sizes stack onto themselves, allowing you to organize and store them in a small space. 

Save Seeds

Seed saving is another excellent way to save money while gardening! There are ways to save seeds from every crop, no matter the type. The easiest ones to save seeds from are heirloom fruits, vegetables, and flowers. They’re often self-pollinating crops that sprout seedlings matching the parent plants.

Some seeds may not sprout true to type! This means they grow seedlings with different habits or looks than their parents. Plants like squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins require careful pollination to ensure they don’t make seeds with pollen from another species. 

Other excellent plants for saving seeds include lettuce, eggplant, Swiss chard, spinach, and broccoli. Leave a few plants to sprout flowers and seeds at the end of summer instead of harvesting them. They’ll create seeds that you can pick and store. Keep dry seeds in a container, and place them in a cool, dark location like a pantry or closet. 

Create Homemade Supports

Stakes, trellises, and bamboo poles are common expenses for gardeners growing tall plants. Beans, peas, and zucchini appreciate having a structure to grow on. They sprout creeping tendrils that latch onto poles or trellises, catapulting the plants toward the light.

Rather than buying bamboo poles every year, consider saving sticks, sunflower stalks, and other tall stems to make homemade supports! Hardwood sticks and branches from trees and shrubs are the best supports, although fleshy stalks may work well too. Choose thick, straight stems over thin, wobbly ones.