Recycling fun

In the Chorlton area of Manchester is a gallery that specialises in art made entirely from recycled materials, and out the back they have a tiny garden, stuffed full of ideas for the ingenious and creative junk hoarder! Here are some of the ideas I liked that they were showcasing:

Broken roof slates as a surface through which to plant Sedums, Saxifrages and other rockery plants, with bits of broken mirror addedfor extra sparkle.

Bottle bottom path through cobble stones - looked just like a winding stream.

A fake frozen pond full of shattered windscreen glass with rusty ducks skating on it. 

The waterfall was made from a glass bathroom tile.

Slates, weathered timber scraps and Saxifrages

Slate fragments - with bits and pieces attached, fossils, paint peelings, cable clamps

Old wooden tiles with paper clips/screws/can pulls etc attached. 

Perfect little works of art, and lovely en masse.

Old ladders used as the top of a pergola.

Now if you use all of these things in a small space the overall effect could be a bit junky, but take one or two bits and add it in to a conventional garden and the effect would be lovely. And all for very little money - just a visit to a good car boot sale!

Recycling is always to be encouraged - it's environmentally friendly and means you can reduce your gardens carbon footprint, and the money you save can be spent on more lovely plants!