Using Recycled Materials to Plant Flower Bulbs

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen., for Vanveenbulbs.com, and in this series we're learning all about how to plant bulbs in containers. And in this segment, we'll talk about how to use recycled materials in your containers to save space and the environment. So I have found that a lot of the items that we recycle are live items that we throw away. There's lots of other uses for them. And they say the number one item right now that they're using in landfills, or that item is ending up in landfills is these plastic water bottles. And I know they're leak the plastic, and they're not supposed to be that healthy to drink from, especially when they get hot. But when you're at garden centers, or garden shows, or you're on the road, we all end up drinking them, because that's the only thing that's available to us. So there are other options. You can always bring your water with you, or bring ice and let it melt, but in the end, these are have become part of our life. So why not put them in the bottom of your containers, just to give some air, cause' you're not going to use the whole container anyway for your soil and everything, and the key is good drainage in containers. So good juices, just put them on the bottom. So I've just put a few items in the bottom of my container, and it seems to work for me really well, because it's lighter; makes my pot much lighter, and the bulbs are not going to sit right in water, because the water's going to go underneath and drain out, and it'll always be dry on the bottom. And whenever you're raking up your leaves or grass clippings, or you're trimming down your trees, and you've got bits of wood and branches, that's like the ultimate material for the bottom of your containers, cause' it's great drainage, and it's great for the roots to have that air. In nature that's how they grow. So I always put a lot a layer of that over my bottles. So my goal is to use all these recycled materials, cause' really, the roots can even grow into that. But I want good soil on the top. So it's really easy to use recycled materials in the bottom of your containers. You can use moss, you can use sticks, you can use stones, you can use gravel, you can use metal. You can use pretty much anything that is garbage, that can drain well, and it's a great way to recycle. Next, we'll talk about how to select the soil for your planters."