Save Toilet Paper Tubes To Create A Bee-Friendly Pollinator Garden

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Gone are the days when everyone considered bees as pests – now, more and more of us realize that these buzzy little insects are fundamental contributors to our food systems, and we're more than ready to make a special place for them in our yards. Thankfully, too, there are ways to support our pollinator gardening passion without hogging all of our hard-earned cash. One of those is a genius way to start reusing toilet paper for gardening, by turning those empty tubes into pots for starting bee-friendly flowers.

This is one of those great TikTok gardening hacks, and gardeners willing to give it try can forgo buying plastic nursery pots or commercially produced biodegradable containers. How sweet is it that we can turn household waste like toilet paper tubes into petite pots for growing flowers for our pollinator gardens?

There are slightly different methods for reusing those cardboard tubes as plant containers. One involves flattening the tube, then cutting it in half to make two shorter ones. For each half-tube, cut four half-inch slits lengthwise in one end, and fold these flaps up and tuck them into each other to make a bottom for the pot. Now the seed pots are ready to use.

Use seed starting soil to fill the toilet-paper-tube pots, because if you want your pollinator garden to be successful you'll need to get your seedlings off to a healthy start. When you fill these repurposed everyday bathroom items, make sure the growing medium is already moist. Cover the seeds to the recommended depth (will vary by plant) and allow them to germinate in bright light. Once the seedlings' roots are filling their tiny pots, transplant them to larger containers or to your pollinator garden.

There are various elements to consider when choosing the best plants for your bee-friendly garden. For one, you'll want to pick flowers that are well adapted to your garden's specific light, water, and soil conditions. But, if you're ready to get started on this project right now, you'll also need to know if the seeds you plan to grow in reused toilet paper tubes need a period of cold before sowing or not.

For instance, pollinator favorite smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) is a U.S. native wildflower that can be sown without cold prep in USDA zones 2 to 9. On the other hand, another bee-friendly annual and native wildflower Rocky Mountain bee plant (Cleome serrulata) is adapted to zones 3 to 12 and must receive a period of cold in order to germinate. You can provide Rocky Mountain bee plant seeds this chilly preparation by storing them in moist sand in the fridge for a month prior to planting.