Plastic pollution is everywhere with microplastics contaminating our environment and food chain. Is a plastic-free garden possible? It can be challenging but there are simple ways to reduce plastic in the garden. By thinking outside the box (especially if it’s plastic packaging), we can definitely minimise the potential for contaminated soil and food gardens by opting for alternatives.
Plastic Free July is a global movement inspiring people be part of the solution to plastic pollution. I’ve taken this challenge on myself and found there are plenty of creative ways to reduce plastic in the garden. I hope they inspire you too!
17 Plastic-Free Garden Supplies and Solutions
These are simple ways to minimise plastic or avoid it altogether.
1. Avoid weed mat
It kills soil life by limiting access to water, air and light. Consider a natural fibre option like breathable hessian or old cotton sheets. Both are compostable solutions to suffocate weeds and prevent access to sunlight so they die. In some situations, cardboard, cotton sheets or sheet mulching may work well. These options are more sustainable and encourage a healthy soil community.
2. Raise your own seeds
Instead of buying seedlings in plastic punnets, sow seeds and grow your own. Even better, make seed raising mix instead of buying it using my five easy recipes.
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3. Use natural pots
Plastic-free alternatives include terracotta, ceramics (fired clay with non-toxic glazes), coconut fibre (coir), stone and wood. There are many benefits to upcycling items and repurposed planters like shoes, bathtubs, colanders and other containers. Most of these options are durable too.
4. DIY plastic-free seed raisers
Make your own small compostable seed germination pots. Natural materials like banana leaves or cardboard toilet rolls are ideal because they have a short temporary life. They can be planted in the hole or pot with the seedling, preventing transplant shock. These biodegradable materials also add valuable carbon to the soil.
5. Make your own fertilisers
By recycling the nutrients in your kitchen scraps and garden ‘waste’, you can make a variety of free plant fertilisers. This minimises the need to buy products in plastic bottles and packaging. A few DIY fertilisers include:
- Compost. Close the loop on food waste by turning your household food scraps and grass clippings into healthy soil.
- Liquid plant ‘teas’. Soaking the leaves of nutrient-rich plants like comfrey, stinging nettles, yarrow or dandelions in water extracts valuable bioavailable minerals readily taken up by plants. Why not grow plants to make your own liquid fertiliser?
- Provide food for worms to compost in a worm farm. Composting worms produce nutrient-rich worm castings (vermicast) that you can use to build healthy soil, add to potting and seed raising mixes, and as a plant food.
- Banana peel fertilisers. There are many ways to reuse banana peels to feed your plants.
- Fireplace or wood ash. Add potash (potassium) to your compost to recycle this nutrient into your soil.
- Leaf mould. Composted leaves make a humus-rich dark soil conditioner.
- Crush eggshells. Powdered eggshells are high in calcium carbonate and ideal to add to your soil.
6. Avoid plastic stakes and edging
Instead, try sustainable options like bamboo or wood stakes. I also upcycle pruned straight branches from the garden as temporary stakes. Thick banana and pawpaw stems or logs are ideal plastic-free garden edging.
Wire mesh trellises and galvanised steel are other options for vertical garden support structures.
7. Make your own plant labels
Use natural materials or upcycle items you have at home. Plastic-free DIY plant labels include hand-painted rocks, broken terracotta pots, metal spoons and wooden popsicle sticks.
8. Avoid pre-bagged products
I prefer to make my own easy DIY potting mix and seed raising mix blends. It’s simple, economical and avoids the need to constantly buy products in plastic bags. If you make compost and have a worm farm, it’s so cheap and sustainable.
Choose bulk supplies like mulch or soil from a landscape yard rather than buying small quantities in plastic bags. At the very least, repurpose the bags so they are not single use. Large 25L, 30L or 50L bags can be filled with weeds multiple times. Recycle them at the end of their useful life.
9. Source plants without plastic packaging
Buy bare-rooted trees and plants in winter when dormant. They are usually shipped in moist sawdust rather than plastic. I also purchase some seedlings direct from the grower who wraps them in newspaper.
10. Learn to propagate
Grow plants from cuttings, layering or division for free. Many cuttings are rooted easily in a glass of water. Other plant material can be potted up straight into a container. This sustainable practice helps you save money and avoid buying more mature plants in plastic pots or seedling trays.
11. Swap toxic plastic for safer alternatives
Limit plastics like PVC in the garden to minimise the potential for toxic chemicals to leach into the soil. Options include renewable resources like timber from sustainably-managed forests, bamboo, heat-treated timber and hemp.
12. Grow your own mulch
There are SO many plants that you can ‘chop and drop’ as free mulch, avoiding the need for buying bagged products. Just a few plants you can use the leaves of include: arrowroot, bamboo, banana, canna lily, comfrey, galangal, ginger, lemongrass, nasturtium, pumpkin, turmeric and sweet potato. Living groundcovers and cover crops are other options. If you have a chipper, you can chop up pruned branches and create a wood chip mulch. All sustainable plastic-free mulch solutions.
13. Choose non-plastic tools and garden accessories
Opt for durable, metal or wooden tools rather than cheap plastic that often has a short shelf life. Cotton, bamboo or leather garden gloves can be composted at the end of their life rather than synthetic materials with plastic components.
14. Raised garden beds
Hardwood timber, cedar, straw bale gardens and metal beds are a few options that provide plastic alternatives.
15. Irrigation
This can be tricky when many hose fittings are plastic or leach toxic chemicals like lead. I use terracotta ollas and watering spikes. Metal watering cans are another option. I also improve the water-holding capacity of my soil and cover it thickly with mulch to hold moisture in. Building gardens on swales for passive water harvesting, wicking beds and rain barrels are other alternatives.
16. Natural twine and plant ties
Rather than using plastic plant ties, think creatively! Try string made from natural fibres like hemp, cotton, hessian, jute or sisal. These are compostable. Sometimes, I cut long strips of fabric from worn clothes into plant ties. I also use old shoe laces and pyjama cords, old balls of pure wool knitting yarn or old stockings instead.
In some situations, I use a long leaf of lemongrass or citronella grass to ‘tie’ a plant back. These leaves are amazingly strong! Some supple vines can also be used in lieu of plastic twine. I also prefer wooden or metal pegs to hold crop protection bags onto stakes.
17. Save seeds
Commercial seeds are almost always sold in plastic packaging to keep them airtight and insect-free. However, by learning the satisfying and simple skill of seed saving, you can save money and avoid more plastic bags.
At the end of the day, whilst it’s challenging to aim for a zero-plastic garden, we can make conscious choices. Opt for less plastic and more natural materials. Preserve the life of the plastic materials you already have with good storage. Try to reuse wherever possible rather than just a single-use.
Reducing the use of plastic in your garden has many benefits. By applying some of these easy suggestions, you can:
- Slow the demand for single-use plastics.
- Minimise waste.
- Prevent harmful chemicals from leaching into your soil, food and waterways.
- Save money and garden more sustainably.
I dig that! I hope you do too.
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