Freshly Recycled

Chris Beytes

Spare Tires
Tire planters get a bad rap for decorating the dirt driveways of tin-roofed shacks and mobile homes, but hey, it’s recycling, so embrace the idea and freshen it up. I spotted these vertical tire gardens decorating a wall at Casey’s Garden Shop and Florist in Bloomington, Illinois.

Cut-down Pallets
I’m always on the lookout for ways to use those ubiquitous wooden pallets. I spotted these at Suburban Lawn & Garden in Overland Park, Kansas. I couldn’t tell if they came that size or were cut down to size, and didn’t think to ask anyone. Regardless, you can figure out how to make them. They’re small enough to put on a bench top singularly or in multiples. They lend that rustic, industrial feel that works well with any plant material.
 

Lights and Branches
The massive retail store of Sandstone Gardens of Joplin, Missouri, has big, soaring spaces that need two things: intimacy and lighting. To bring down the height of the cavernous space, owners Vicki and Max Carr use swags of branches, often adorned with sparkly holiday lights. She says that customers love to find hidden nooks and crannies, and the branches create a forest for them to explore. To light those spaces, they attached hanging and clip-on lamps to standard iron pipe you can buy at the home improvement store. GP