Waste Less, Grow More: Upcycling Trends For A Garden Utopia

Upcycling, the engaging and creative alternative to recycling, is big news. With over 739,200 videos on TikTok under #upcycling, it’s embraced in schools, recognized by DIY enthusiasts and loved by the thrifty.

Upcycling provides the best of sustainable practice with the satisfaction of making something yourself.
Upcycling is the perfect fit for gardeners, helping to look after the environment, save you money and get your garden looking great!

However, it can be tricky to find inspiration for your next upcycling job. Not to worry, we’ve spoken to the garden specialists behind Hayter Mowers about the brilliant upcycling garden trends you should try with the kids this summer holiday.

Plastic bottle irrigation

Watering your plants is all about quality over quantity, which is why an effective irrigation system is so sought after by keen gardeners. In fact, drip irrigation keeps plants well-watered with an efficiency of 95-100% - that’s 20% more efficient than sprinklers.

However, the problem with complex irrigation systems is that they take a long time to make, can be costly and leave behind a lot of construction waste.

So, what’s the solution? Take the complexity out of irrigation and make your own using discarded rubbish! That’s right, this ingenious upcycling trend on social media sees keen gardeners converting old plastic water bottles into simple irrigation systems.

The concept is simple enough. Just take a fork and poke holes in a water bottle all along the bottom. Next, bury your bottle close to the plant you want to irrigate. Fill the bottle with water, screw the lid on and leave it to do its thing! This simple process will keep your plants well-watered for up to a week.

This guide by @ThatWeirdPlantGuy on TikTok has over 12.2m views, inspiring others to create similar plastic bottle irrigation videos: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatweirdplantguy/video/6975487906433518854?q=Garden%20upcycling&t=1710420626508

Chris Cooper, Hayter senior product marketing manager, has this to say about the simple upcycled irrigation system:
“When it comes to upcycling in the garden there’s form and there’s function. This is an ingeniously simple example of upcycling rubbish into a fantastically functional product.

“This upcycling project takes only a couple of minutes and the results are fantastic. Drip irrigation is great for your garden, it makes sure the water gets directly where it needs to go – the roots. When you live in a country that can experience the odd dry spell, this becomes very useful. Pair it with a homemade rain collector and you’ll never have problems with draught again.”

Bathtub herb garden

Have you ever seen a bath flung out on the side of the street? Or hanging out of a skip? Has your own seen better days? Perfect, you’ve just gained a dedicated herb garden.

Creative gardeners on TikTok and Instagram have been giving their old baths a new lease of life as decorative beds for herbs and flower displays.

You can renovate these using anything you like, but make sure you use the appropriate cleaner for your bath’s material beforehand. Then simply prime, paint, fill with soil, plant and display. Voila! You now have an art-deco garden display piece.

Thrifty TikToker @SerenaGrows uses her bathtub as a dedicated space to grow fresh kitchen herbs, such as mint and parsley:

https://www.tiktok.com/@serenagrows/video/7243560167105776923?q=bath%20tub%20garden%20planter&t=1710515862079

“What I love the most about seeing so many gardeners on social media trying this project is that it’s the ultimate version of the artificial supermarket display plant,” Chris explains. “There was a trend in early 2023 of supermarkets selling tiny plastic baths with a fake plant in. These gardeners have said ‘no, we’ll do you one better!’ and the results speak for themselves – they look great.”

Toilet roll seed starters

This trend is everywhere on TikTok, everyone has their own variation of this little trick – all of them work just as well.

This trend sees gardeners using the cardboard tubes from their finished toilet rolls as biodegradable seed holders.

To upcycle your own, make four one-inch cuts on one end of the tube, folding them in to make a roll with only one opening. Next, add compost, plant your seeds and fill the top with a little more compost. Water, then wait a few weeks for the seedlings to appear. Once they’re visible, transport the seedlings to an outside pot by unfolding the four sections you cut earlier and popping the whole tube into the container. Since cardboard is biodegradable, this mini container will then decompose over time, leaving no mess!

Here's a great guide by TikToker @JoesGarden that has amassed over 360,000 views:
https://www.tiktok.com/@joesgarden/video/6950658625689963782

“This is a really resourceful use of household waste, which everyone always has plenty of. It’s also really easy to do, so we can see why this trend has taken off,” Chris continues. “One caveat would be to make sure you water lightly in the centre of the filled roll – over-watering may cause mould if you aren’t careful.”

Furniture facelifts

Tempted to throw out your old, cheaper-looking pots, planters or patio furniture? Don’t! You can make them look 10 times more expensive with some clever upcycling hacks.

TikTok is flooded with upcycling guides for pots and furniture, encouraging viewers to maximise their garden product aesthetics with expensive-looking paints.

This £1 upcycling tutorial with 10,000 views by @ChloeMcKechnie18 is a fantastic example, taking a cheap plastic pot and painting it to make it look like it’s made of concrete:

https://www.tiktok.com/@chloemckechnie18/video/7202978798780927238?q=upcycling%20old%20plant%20pots&t=1710519540340

“It’s amazing what a fresh lick of paint can do,” says Chris. “It can completely transform the quality and feel of a pot or piece of furniture, as well as inject a premium feel. Most importantly, it also helps reduce the temptation of buying cheap, then throwing it away and replacing, which is very damaging to sustainability. Products should last a long time if we care for them properly – especially when it comes to our gardens.”

Homemade bird baths

Increasing biodiversity in the garden is a must for a healthy ecosystem! Birds are fantastic for controlling weeds and keeping garden pests at bay. Their presence also helps with soil aeration – so it’s imperative that we make them feel at home.

You don’t have to break the bank to do this, either. There are plenty of clever gardeners who have tried their hand at making bird baths out of upcycled materials.

TikToker @JensHomeJournal has created a fantastic guide on how to make a simple bird bath out of two old plant pots, a saucer and some garden stones. She’s one of many sharing their ingenious homemade bird baths and her guide currently has over 1.7 million views!
https://www.tiktok.com/@jenshomejournal/video/7086549750010400005

“Bird baths really are timeless,” says Chris. “They add a sense of traditional elegance to a garden, but they can be expensive – especially the ones made of stone. Creating your own bird bath out of materials lying around your garden is a very clever way of keeping the birds happy and elevating the look of your garden without breaking the bank. This is also a fantastic project to do with the kids this spring.”

Have you jumped on any of these upcycling garden trends? Try one yourself and add your video to the bunch – you may just inspire the next keen gardener!