Frugal Friday

The cleverness and imagination of some people never ceases to amaze me.  I just love when someone finds a new use for an item that would otherwise end up in a landfill.  Take automobile or truck tires for instance.  We all have the odd friend, neighbor or relative that plunks an old tractor tire in their yard and plants flowers in it.  Some even go so far as to paint the tire first, and while there is nothing wrong with this as a tire is essentially a raised be garden,  you have to admit that they just aren’t that attractive.  To me, if I am going to upcycle something into my garden, it has to not only have a useful purpose, but it has to look good and add to the overall aesthetic of my garden.  After all, the whole point of upcycling is to give a new purpose and life to old items and create a unique and useful garden space.  Making your garden look like the neighborhood dump isn’t part of the plan!

With that in mind I set out in search of new uses for old tires.  I chose tires because they are easily available and most everyone has them or can get their hands on them and usually for free or very cheaply.  Plus unlike wooden items, they last for a very long time, so you don’t have to keep redoing them as they rot out.

One word of caution.  The jury is still out on whether or not it is safe to use old tires to grow edibles.  Here is an article about it and then you can do your own research and decide for yourself if you want to use them to grow edible crops or not.   However,   there are plenty of other things you can do with them and you can always plant other types of plants in them, such as annuals,  should you decide to use them for planters.

I thought these were adorable, although I am not sure if you can actually sit on them since the sign says “Please do not sit”.  But with a little imagination you could make them so that you can sit on them and I think they would be great for kids.

Of course, there is always the traditional tire swing.

How about a sandbox?

A vinyl shower curtain or table cloth would be the perfect cover for this when it is not in use.

This is very clever.  Stair treads made from old tires.

And of course, you can always make a hanging planter.

Hopefully, this will give you some ideas to get your own creative juices flowing!  There are many more ideas and a quick Google search will yield lots more than I can put into a post.  If you do decide to use tires for growing edibles, there are some great tutorials on line for growing potatoes in tires, making raised bed gardens, planters and retaining walls.  The sky seems to be the limit with what you can do with old tires!  If you decide to give them a try, drop us an email and a picture of your project.  Send it to Vicki at pcwd . org.  Have fun!