Of the amount of plastic, that I have gathered through my gardening life. My leaf rake has lasted decades – but that is no excuse. However, plant trays, containers have all eventually become brittle and fall into tiny shards, which have then been deposited at the council recycling centre. It is all such a waste, and this year I am fully intent on limiting my use of plastic. I will keep a ( very honest ) non plastic gardening diary on my blog .
I am left with a quandary though, what shall I do with all the plastic my garden appears to be relatively full of ? I don’t have an answer to any of this yet, but leave it with me, and I will work on it this year.
We had a fabulous amount of snow this week, which meant that my working life as gardener, came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday. I spent my free time wisely – I ordered seeds, and came up with a new design for the garden. I very much hope this coming weekend, will provide me with the opportunity to set out my 2023 garden.
Our garden is hard paved, and many of the plants live in large containers. I tend to move the containers around annually , and this will be the 15th new design. I had a look through some old images earlier, and here is an overview of how our garden has changed over time.
I had forgotten how many small seating areas we use to have in the garden. Over the last couple of years , we have mainly spent our time sitting around the garden table, just taking in the views of the garden from there. Its time to reinstate the other seating areas.
I will definitely be removing all the white plastic raised beds, functional though they are, this time of year they are entirely unaesthetic, and they annoy me. I am sure I can find a good home for them though, rather than them heading off to land fill. A couple of years ago, I found a whole heap of old building blocks ( complete with moss and lichen ) at the end of our orchard, and used them to make raised beds. I will go and see if there are any left , to make some more. In my opinion , you really cannot beat a bit of recycling.
Sally Wicks 
The disdain for plastics is something I can identify with, although I can not explain why. I used to grow acres of horticultural commodities within vinyl cans, both on top of and shaded by saran. I do not allow it within my garden though. Actually, I do not allow much of it in my home. I believe that the Amish have more tolerance for plastics than I do.
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Thanks Tony , the amount of plastic in so many industries , really concerns me . There is not a great deal I can personally do about that . But I can be responsible for reducing my use of it .
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I find it annoying that people bring forced potted plants into their home or office because they believe that it brings a bit of nature into their environment. They have no idea that the plants are imported from somewhere else, and grown within artificial climates that consume energy for heat. Such plants grow in artificial media, within plastic pots, inside plastic greenhouses that are outfitted with all that that plastic and artificial infrastructure. They get synthetic fertilizer and water that must be pumped, and get wrapped in more plastic for sale. There is NOTHING natural about them; but they somehow bring nature into the home or office.
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Me too, although some of my plastic trays I have used many times and still going strong . Xxx
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I think that’s the thing , tough plastic lasts for a very very long time … both a good thing , if we use them all the time , and not so if we get rid of them . Some of my propagation lids are now 15 years old .
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Hi Sally,
I thought I would drop you a line to say how much I enjoy your gardening blog, also your general approach to gardening and garden writing. Having been involved with horticulture for both work and pleasure most of my life I have read a lot of books and blogs… I enjoy your straightforwardness, enthusiasm for trying new things and honesty; it’s an enjoyable combination and refreshingly free of BS! I also live and work in South Shropshire (Clun) and occasionally visit Wildegoose Nursery… maybe see you there sometime. Always love to natter about gardens, plants and all those lovely things…
Best wishes,
Ros Patching
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Dear Ros, I’m really glad you enjoyed my blog . I have been writing it for a long time – just over 10 years , and it has become my garden diary , and I really enjoy writing it .
Wildegoose is almost back open from its winter closure , it truly is an incredibly fascinating place to work .
Kindest regards
Sally
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[…] for our garden, and I wrote about the particularly unaesthetic appearance of the raised beds on I have had enough . On a positive note, they now have a new forever home, and will shortly be heading to a community […]
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