When I moved into my current home, I was a little shocked when I arrived to find a home that hadn’t been entirely cleared out. Evidence of the previous occupant was everywhere, but it was mostly small stuff that we donated or repurposed.
The interior of the home yielded few treasures (though it was mostly junk), but the exterior…oh what bounty! While the yard was fairly devoid of plantings, there were piles of pavers, some really cool bricks, and lots of big rocks.
How on earth could this elicit such elation? Well, I love a good deal and even better if I can landscape with recycled materials that I found for free. Plus, I was itching to play with the garden, but funds were limited (moving is expensive). So immediately I saw these items as free landscaping materials to use in my fixer upper yard.
I'll walk you through how I turned this trash into treasure and share tips on how you can do the same with materials you may already have on hand.
How to Turn Trash Into Garden Treasure
The first thing I did was take a quick visual assessment of the materials. Then while I was unpacking the house, my mind worked tirelessly thinking up ideas to do with it. I could barely get through the unpacking because the lush, layered garden design ideas in my mind were so enticing.
The next thing I did was gather all the bricks. With these, I sketched out the beginnings of some garden beds and then went to work laying them as borders for the beds.
Next, I gathered up the piled up the free stones for landscaping that I found in my yard. Some of them went to cover an area on the side of the house that used to hold a big metal tank for oil heating of the home. I planned to plant that area later on but in the meantime it looked better and kept the dirt off the siding when it rained.
1. Build an Antique Brick Patio for Free
After I had gathered all my materials, including some interesting antique bricks, I did some research on them. The bricks in the garden were of various earth tones from ochre to reddish and stamped with a name and number. The shapes were less rectangular and more trapezoid. Turns out they were kiln bricks made back east, 50 years ago or so. What a find!
So I did what anyone would do with such pretty, vintage bricks: I built a patio. My new home already had a covered patio that ended at ground height on two sides with a step up on one side. This is where the new cheap paver patio would be, creating another small patio with outdoor seating to showcase my gorgeous container garden.
If you aren't as lucky as I was, you can buy bricks from the Home Depot to create a patio in your yard that looks just as lovely.
Now you can’t just lay out some bricks to create a patio. I dug down to the depth of the bricks and made the ground as even as possible. Then I poured out a 1 inch (2.5 cm) layer of sand, which you can get at the Home Depot, and positioned the bricks, leaving some room between them. Then I poured more sand on top of the finished patio and, using a broom, brushed it in to fill the gaps and cracks between the bricks.
This sounds like a quick and easy project, but it took time and effort. And in the end, it isn’t perfect. But the imperfections add to the charm of the patio. Ideally, we should have laid gravel first as a paver base, but that would have meant purchasing materials and the idea was to do it for free.
2. Create Garden Beds and Pathways
I’ve already mentioned that I used some of the bricks and pavers I’d found as cheap DIY garden paths and some for garden beds, but I still had more so I decided to tackle the side of the house. There is a narrow area between my home and the neighbors separated by a fence and some dirt. It was an ugly and messy area of the yard.
I’d found even more rocks as I was digging to lay out the garden beds and patio. Some were large, the size of a small dog, and some were fist sized. They were perfect for making narrow beds in this no man’s land between houses. I used some pavers that were laying about to create a long, straight bed against the fence.
Today, that area is filled with plants I’ve divided or volunteered including some Miscanthus grass, sea holly, penstemon, liatris, a couple different types of sedum, and an adorable clematis.
If you don't find any stones in your yard or you need to fill in with more material, like the pea gravel I purchased to line the walkway between the plants to prevent weeds, Home Depot has tons of great options for landscape rocks.
3. Turn a Wheelbarrow Into a Planter
Lastly, I found a treasure in my new yard—or at least it seemed so to me. I discovered it in the garage and it is marvelous. It is an old wheelbarrow with rubber wheels that are falling off and the perfect green patina.
I turned this gem of a find into a piece of garden art with the help of my sister-in-law who is particularly crafty. This project turned out beyond cool. We did have to do a little fixing of the wheels and some tightening of screws and we laid a tarp in the bottom with drainage holes as well.
But, all in all, it’s the perfect creative plant container that’s also free. And so far, it’s held up eight years and counting! You can also buy premade wheelbarrow planters on Amazon, if you can't find an old one to repurpose.
Get Inspired in Your Own Landscape
At the end of the day, or rather eight years later, I’ve learned that you can use almost anything to accent your landscape. You can find free materials anywhere for hardscaping like paths, patios, borders, beds, fencing, stakes, trellises, and even french drains.
I do not consider myself to be an artist but, somehow when you use natural landscaping materials, everything comes together in a cohesive manner and looks amazing.
If your house doesn’t yield as many treasures, try going on social media. There are many sites out there and people are always giving stuff away. This is also a great way to find free plants. All you have to do is have the inspiration and imagination to find and repurpose freebies. And they don’t all have to be natural materials either.
For instance, I’ve got my eye on some old aluminum shutters in my sister’s garage. She doesn’t want them and I’m thinking of some kind of triptych to hang on the wall of our covered patio.
Not only is this a fun and free way to shape up the garden, but it’s good for the environment. We are drowning in single use items. You can even find fill soil for free that will make a good berm.
