DIY: Urban Gardening with Upcycled Items

Posted on Jun 17, 2014 in Sustainable Living & Sustainable Lifestyle by Contributing Writer 0 Comments

Thousands of old items are scrapped and thrown in landfills every day because of outdated style, minor damage, or other petty wear and tear. Underneath all the age and aesthetic degradation, these items are still fantastic pieces that deserved to be showcased. Surely a little age isn’t enough to ruin a once-beautiful item.

Thankfully, plenty of modern designers can see the value in these diamonds in the rough. To bring them back to life, they go one step beyond recycling; they “upcycle” these old items, turning them into something even bigger and better than they were originally.

Upcycling: Urban Gardening from Recycled Items

As their work will show you, imagination is the only limitation when it comes to upcycling. With a little modification, items once thought to be single-use can be transformed into handy tools and decorations for a myriad of purposes. For example, urban gardening is an area that’s ripe with upcycling opportunities. Urban gardeners have upcycled everything from old license plates to worn out shutters. They’ve even made herb gardens in old mason jars and vegetable gardens in raised beds of salvaged timber. The possibilities are truly endless.

There are plenty of plant options too. For low maintenance gardens, succulents can be tucked into a whole host of different upcycled planters. They require very little watering, and they can survive the gardeners among us with the least green of thumbs. As long as you can supply the proper lighting and moisture, there is an upcycled container option for nearly any plant.

So is your interest piqued? If so, read on into the graphic below to see some of the best examples of upcycled garden fixtures. As you gaze upon these beautifully crafted planters, consider the “junk” residing in your home, and imagine the possibilities!