Gestalt Gardener
Now that my worn old eyes have been fixed, I can see stuff lying at my feet, for better and worse. Case in point, I just rescued a cast-off toy truck tire from the street curb, which has now been cut, inverted, painted and recycled into another tiny pot of live, miniature succulents.
Having been raised with ethos of “making do” I am not surprised by a holiday wreath made from a rolled green garden hose festooned with bows and ornaments. Recology, or the newly-defined “science of using again” is especially practical in the garden where pretty much anything that can hold decent dirt and has a drain hole at the bottom is fair game as a flower pot.
Nothing new here, folks, except attitude. For as long as people have gardened, we have had home-made containers of gourds, pottery, hollowed-out stumps and stones, old boots, pots, and pans – anything that could hold a little dirt was good. They are all practical, safe, and free, just as valid as recycled whiskey barrels, cooking kettles, et al; as Scottish landscape artist Ian Hamilton Finlay put it, “Better truth to intellect, than truth to material” - style can overlook substance.
The “crown” tires Eudora Welty wrote about, so-called because, when cut and turned inside out they look like frilly royal headgear, are the best. Yeah, some folks turn up their noses, but it is the ultimate hypocrisy to celebrate half whiskey barrel planters while clutching pearl necklaces over equally-recycled tire planters, denigrating them as the “po’ folk” trappings. Yet the frilly, zaftig pots can be seen worldwide – including in English botanic gardens and European flower shows where innovation catches the approving eyes of judges.
I’ve seen plants growing in faded blue jeans stuffed with potting soil and set on park benches, every conceivable type of sports helmet, opened drawers of office cabinets, concrete construction blocks, upside down umbrellas, sofas and chairs, beds, and entire walls made of plastic soda bottles cascading with plants.
I’ve done my part with this over the years by planting flowers, herbs, and small vegetables in simple but gaily spray-painted five-gallon buckets, and embarrassed my children by growing flowers and herbs in shoes, boots, buckets, baskets, gloves, wagons, seashells, tin cans, and a saxophone with cascading succulents. I grow in large galvanized horse water troughs, and an antique pedestal sink and claw-foot bathtub from my great-grandmother’s house. Oh, and a porcelain chamber pot that had been discarded up under the house because it had a rusty hole in it (planted with petunias of course. Think about it).
My latest gallimaufry is a tight group of favorite culinary herbs, which I actually use in the kitchen, planted in Granny’s old, red-rimmed enamel dishpan. She discarded because it had a rusted hole in the bottom, which I take advantage of as good drainage. I have planted it for years, combining upright rosemary and basil, cascading thyme and oregano, bright green parsley, African Blue basil, colorful kale and Swiss chard, and edible violas. Fun twist is that I just nestled it into the worn-through seat over an old wooden ladderback chair. I think it’s garden show worthy. You think some of this is extreme? Maybe. But I am unrepen-
tant, and I’m not alone, as this has become quite chic, especially at garden shows and among folks with kids needing an easy, catchy garden project. If you have one single item you cherish that you made out of something recycled, then you are one of us.
Keep an eye peeled and you too can become a recycling reusing repurposing recologist! Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Email gardening questions to rushingfelder@yahoo.com.