Don't Throw Out Old Clothing Without Reusing Them In Your Garden: 12 Best Hacks

Sorting through your old clothing can be exciting, as it helps you clear out physical and mental clutter. It can also be overwhelming, however, especially when you have a huge pile of old clothing to contend with. It is, in fact, estimated that each person in the United States throws away more than 100 pounds of textiles every year. If you have clothing items you want to get rid of for a clutter-free closet but don't want them to end up in a landfill, there are many ways to put them to good use. One of the best ways to reuse your old clothes is by creatively repurposing them in the garden.

Whether you consider yourself an amateur gardener or an avid one, there are many ways that your old clothing can be useful in your outdoor paradise. You can keep things simple by collecting a pile of old t-shirts that can be used to cover plants in the winter, or you can use an absorbent piece of clothing as a rag for cleaning your gardening tools. If you're of the craftier persuasion, why not try to make your own garden hat, a sun-shading canopy for your garden, or some fruit protection bags to keep hungry pests away from your ripening fruit? You might be surprised by just how much you can accomplish in your garden with clothing that is past its prime.

If you have crops to protect in your garden, repurpose your old clothes to create a thrifty yet effective scarecrow. You can be as basic or sophisticated as you want when crafting your scarecrow, but you'll certainly need a shirt, some hay for stuffing it, and a piece of fabric that can be converted into a head — you can use an old t-shirt for this part. In order to keep birds from growing desensitized to the scarecrow, try affixing things that flash, move, or make noise to the structure. 

Gardening can be messy work, and sometimes you need a clean cloth to wipe your hands on. A few old t-shirts can be cut into pieces and turned into very effective gardening rags. Whether you need something to wipe your sweaty forehead with, a cloth to dampen and wipe your dirty hands with, or a clean cloth to wipe down some muddy gardening tools, you'll always have a purpose for these clothes-turned-rags.

If you have an old pair of jeans or other sturdy material lying around in your old clothes pile (duck cloth or canvas, for example), these materials can be converted into a unique and useful gardening apron. Be sure to add enough pockets to fit your needs, such as holding seed packets, a pair of gloves, or a trowel.

As temperatures begin to cool, you'll want to do everything that you can to protect your precious frost-sensitive plants. Instead of purchasing pricier frost cloths for your plants, you can use old clothing to get the job done. If you need to cover a larger plant, you can cut apart several t-shirts and roughly sew them together. Smaller plants can be covered with a t-shirt that has the neck hole sewn shut.

You do all that you can to help your plants grow healthily, but sometimes they need a little extra support. Instead of spending money on plastic plant ties (which are sometimes not flexible enough for the delicate stalks of your plants), you can cut your cotton t-shirt into long strips and use them to support your plants. Put them to work for you by either tying them to a support, such as a stake, or using a strong stalk from the plant as the support for a weaker branch with the fabric.

Weeding can be back-breaking work — it's also pretty messy, too — if you're tired of getting your perfectly good clothes all covered in mud, why not keep a pile of your old clothes in a basket and use them on weeding day? You can spare your nicer gardening clothes for days when you're watering the garden or cutting flowers, but on days when you're getting down in the dirt, it's best to wear items that you don't care about.

Is there anything more frustrating as a gardener than to find your ripening fruit already half-eaten by garden pests? You know the answer to that question, but perhaps you're not sure how to keep it from happening over and over again — fortunately, there's an easy way to protect fruit trees in your yard from getting ravaged by wasps. Any lightweight fabric in your clothing pile that is breathable and lets light in, can be used to easily create fruit protection bags. These drawstring bags are cinched around your fruit to protect it until harvest time.

Some crops need a little TLC when it comes to keeping them protected from the blazing sun. Your old clothes can come in handy as a budget-friendly way to add more shade to your backyard or garden: craft a canopy to hang above your filtered-light-loving plants. This type of shade will perform well if it doesn't completely block out the light, so opt for lightweight materials, like your old swim cover-up, for this DIY. Remember to reinforce the edges of the canopy where it will be getting the most tension when hung up.

If you have a small patio garden and seating to soak in the fresh air, now is the perfect time to let your old clothes shine. You can cut up shirts and dresses into pieces of fabric that can be sewn into a quilted couch cover or make them into pillows to toss onto your outdoor sofa. Since they'll be outside, you should expect them to get a little wet and worn with time — but since they came from clothes that you were going to throw out — it shouldn't matter that much.

After all your hard work of planting, tending to, and growing your vegetable garden, the day comes when you finally get to harvest your produce. If your garden is especially prolific, you might need a bag for rounding up all of your juicy and delicious fruits and vegetables, and an old piece of clothing can provide the perfect material for crafting one. You can completely personalize your produce bag, whether that means making one that is very large for crops like corn, tomatoes, and stone fruits, or one that's smaller for your dainty herb garden. 

If you work in the garden a lot, you know that protecting yourself from the sun is important (keeping the sun off your face and head also means you can work outside longer without getting too hot). If you have a favorite dress that is no longer suitable for wearing, you can easily turn it into your newest favorite gardening accessory —  a bucket hat. With some beginner sewing skills and a little time, you'll be sporting a one-of-a-kind hat that will keep your eyes shielded from the sun while working in the garden.

If you're tired of shelling out money for new gardening gloves every season, you can reuse clothes you're planning to throw away to make some fresh gloves. This project won't take too long (especially if you have a sewing machine), and it can give new life to fabric from clothes that have seen better days. This is also an excellent gift for gardeners in your life, or for your grandkids, so they can dig in the dirt on their next visit.