The Simple Soil Saving-Solution That's Perfect For Your Annuals

If you're staring into the void of large, empty pots ready to be filled with soil, you may be looking for ways to cut down on how much soil you need to fill them all. The answer may be hiding in your shed. If you're anything like us, you have lots of pots from the starter plants you have bought at garden stores over the years. There are lots of creative ways to reuse plastic nursery pots, but one of the most obvious is in the garden. Simply find a nursery pot of the right size, flip it over, and put it in a larger, more permanent pot. It's as simple as that!

This works especially well for annuals that won't be living in their pots for more than a few months or otherwise shallow-rooted plants. Many annuals offer great value, bringing color, texture, and fast-growing blooms to your container garden for a brief but beautiful summer. At the end of the season, you will be removing those plants from their pots and starting over again, so they don't typically need deep pots filled from top to bottom with expensive, high-quality soil. Save that method for your long-lived perennials.

This hack works on a simple premise. Turning the pots over takes up volume in the larger containers, but there are a few more reasons why it tends to work so well. Nursery pots already have drainage holes, which allow water to run freely through them. Also, the nursery pots help protect the container's drainage holes from clogging with potting soil. We also like that you can easily manage the amount of soil needed to fill your pot by changing the size of the nursery pot at the bottom. If you anticipate needing more soil for plants that prefer to stay moist, put a smaller pot in the bottom and add more soil.

While there are other soil-saving options, like adding styrofoam to the bottom of a pot, the nursery pot hack has fewer downsides. Styrofoam can become waterlogged and create an environment where plants develop root rot. That won't happen with nursery pots, which offer many of the same benefits, like reducing the weight of the pots. If you want to find even more ways to save, check out this smart hack to save you money at the garden center.