Skip The Basic Plant Ties And Use This Common Household Waste Instead

There are many times you'll be reaching for plant ties in your garden, especially if you're growing climbers and vining plants. Even young shrubs and trees often need a little helping hand to grow straight using a stake or two until they're strong enough to do it themselves. But what happens when you run out of the basic plant ties you purchased at the local hardware store and your vining tomato plant is threatening to flop over onto the ground? Don't panic, because there's a simple solution in the form of a common household item — just look for an old shirt.

Head to your wardrobe or the bag containing those shirts you don't wear anymore and grab a pair of sharp scissors. Whether you have stretchy T-shirts or other types of tops, you can easily cut these into strips and use them to gently tie your plants onto their supports. Once you know the right way to tie plants to a trellis, these homemade ties allow you to reuse old clothing that may otherwise end up in a landfill. They're also much kinder to your plants than many conventional ties. Fabric plant ties are soft and often stretchy, which means they can give a little when the stems start to thicken. This means there's less damage to those stems and fewer breakages. You'll find that this repurposing idea ties in well with using an old curtain rod as a plant pole, both indoors and outdoors.

If you're into sustainable gardening and take great lengths to enrich your soil and make your own compost, use the same strategy when supporting your plants. Reusing those old shirts in the garden by cutting or tearing them into strips means you're giving a new life to something that's just going to waste otherwise. Just cut them into finger-length strips and use a simple knot to secure your plants. It's even better if your old shirts are made from natural fibers. With constant exposure to the elements, the fabrics will eventually break down. And if the fibers are plant-based, they can be added to your compost.

You'll also find that plant ties made from fabric strips are going to be much easier to undo and retie when your plants continue to grow. This means that you'll likely get at least a couple of seasons out of each strip before the fabric naturally starts to decompose. You can even prepare your plant ties ahead of time so you always have some handy by cutting an old shirt into a long strip and then winding this around a toilet paper tube that you're probably going to dispose of as well. So, next time you're tempted to throw away that old T-shirt that's seen better days, consider reusing the fabric in the garden to keep your plants well-supported. There are several other clever ways you can use your old T-shirts around your home and garden, from using them as produce bags to turning them into plant hangers.