Green Summer Project Ideas

While salvaged materials might need to cleaned, sanded, and/or re-painted, using these materials and a little extra work will keep you from having to buy more manufactured materials for your lawn and garden. This is good for the environment, but also very nice for your budget. Most of the ideas below come from our family's projects.

Fire Pit
... from an old grill. If you have a small, stand-alone grill that is rusting through from use and the elements, you can use the grate from it to create a fire feature. Simply measure the width of the grate and dig a shallow pit about half the size of the width of the grate. Using flat rocks (if you live in a rural place) or salvage bricks/pavers place 3-4 around the hole. These will hold the grate up off the ground above the pit. You might need to stack the rocks, bricks or pavers if they aren't very tall. There you go, a fire pit. Now all you need is wood, friends and marshmallows.

Plant Containers
... from toilet tanks. My mother came up with this idea when she saw some my grandfather had thrown out pieces of an old toilet. Simply take the tank, give it a good clean and pick out a place for it. As they are not really flat and sturdy enough to stand up on their own, I recommend burying it about 5-6 inches in the spot you pick out. Now, just fill it with potting soil and plant away.

Flower Bed
... from recovered brick. We came into some brick when we discovered a discarded pile behind my brother-in-law's workplace. The manager said we were welcomed to it, so we took the opportunity. We took the bricks and lined out a bed beside the back door for shady plants (hostas) and used the mortar between the bricks for mulch. The picture accompanying this article is our finished product.

Patio
... from recovered brick. Using bricks in various patterns, you can design and create a patio for your backyard. Who says you need expensive pavers?

Bird (or Bat) House
... from rescued wood. Simply find a place, or friends, which have wood left over from a construction project and ask if they are selling it or giving it away. You might even be able to salvage some from a demolition or remodeling. Use this wood to create bird houses, bat houses and a number of other ideas.

Arbor
... from old wooden doors. I saw this in a magazine once and thought it was cute. You can take two salvaged doors (wood ones with glass pane windows broken out) for the sides and some trellis for the top and construct a very attractive arbor for various climbing plants like roses or ivy.

Raised Bed or Edging
... from discarded railroad ties. This was a project we did at our old residence. Use discarded railroad ties for constructing a raised bed, steps, edging off a driveway or parking spot, and numerous other ideas.

Butterfly "Puddling Pool"
... from toilet tank lids. Another great idea from my mother was to take the lid from the aforementioned toilet tank, clean it and find a nice, semi-shady place in your garden for it. Place dampened sand within the bottom side (the side that fitted down on the tank and has lips to hold in the sand). It might be a good idea to place the tank lid into the ground a bit instead of just placing it on top. The reason for creating this is because "butterflies often congregate on wet sand and mud to partake in "puddling," drinking water and extracting minerals from damp puddles." (Source: National Wildlife Association)

Trellis
... from a mattress box spring. This is another idea I saw in a magazine a while ago. They used an old rusty box spring, but I don't see why it would have to be like that. If you have a mattress that is beyond its peak, strip it and use the springs for your flower or vegetable vines to grow on.