New Life for Old Tires in the Garden
There are millions of tires which end up in landfill every year, but there are a number of uses for old tires which will help you get the most out of your garden too. You can use old tires for a variety of uses within your garden – as planters, protection nurseries, bringing on vegetables and many more uses.
First of all, a question I’m frequently asked is whether it is safe to use tires, especially as they do contain some toxins, such as heavy metals. The answer is they are perfectly safe to use because the chemical components of a tire are “fixed” within the rubber and will not leach into the soil to be taken up in the roots of plants and vegetables you are growing. Some elements in tires are in fact desirable, zinc for instance, but the issue of harmful toxins getting into your soil and harming plants is fallacious.
A major advantage of using old tires is that they will not rot. They will last for decades and they can be painted to blend into the environment you are creating. From this perspective, tires are a really useful adjunct to landscaping and practical useful in the garden. You can also find old tires easily enough – most tire dealers will gladly let you look through their piles of old tires and take what you want – if they keep them it will cost them money to dispose of them properly, so you taking some of their hands is worth money to them.
Let’s take a look at some uses of old tires in the garden.
Creating a Hotbed
Once winter starts to loosen its grasp, the thoughts of many gardeners turn to planting for the next season. Take an old tire, preferably as large as you can find and take a tool knife and cut the tire into a half around the center of the tire. Take one half and sink it into the ground. Take some manure, making sure it is fairly well rotted but not completely, and pack the manure around the tire and in the bottom of the pit you cleared and in which the tire now sits. Fill the inside of the tire with compost and you have a first class incubator to bring on salad seedlings. The manure will continue to compost which will generate heat enough to make sure your new plants do not freeze if there is a cold snap.
Raising Roots
If you live in a cold region, you are already probably aware of the advantages of growing vegetables in a raised bed. You can use old tires to do this easily and conveniently, and there are numerous advantages to doing so:
The soil temperature rises faster because the soil is above the colder surrounding ground and there is an effect from the rubber itself plus the black color retains more heat from the sun;
The tire beds will dry out faster which helps drainage;
Plant roots have deeper soil to take hold of;
Planting can be done sooner in the season; and
The tire will help congregate and concentrate your seedlings and provide physical protection.
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