Saturday, February 7, 2015

Recycled (car/truck) Tire Gardens

It's amazing how much trash goes to the landfill, but think how much trash could be reused for gardening, or making homes. Car/truck tires can be layered to create a whole HOUSE! Earthships are made of tires containing dirt and rebar for support. In this post I will be specifically discussing tire gardens.
I usually find my tires along the side of the road; and I have even found 10 tires piled up in the woods! I know several people who have grown potatoes in tires. Carrots and onions do best in raised beds, which may be great for growing in tires. It's possible to grow any annual or biennial plant in a tire. Something like a tree will not be best suited for growing in a tire.

Personally, I would not grow vegetables in tires (especially if they haven't been completely cleaned).  I am using 5 tires for growing Ferns and Chrysanthemums. If I obtain more tires I will continue to grow flowers in them. I would like to paint Tires and create a unique Tire wall as you can see from other gardener's tire gardens-- see below:

gardening channel
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No dime design
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the Tire Garden
According to Linda Chalker-Scott, Associate Professor and Extension Urban Horticulturist, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center, we do know that "rubber tires will be a constant source of leached metals, PAHs, and other pollutants as the tires degrade. Whether or not it's enough to worry about from a human health perspective is unknown." Also, the black rubber can get hot in direct sunlight, which can damage your plants.

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