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thecitychicken

Wow, I'm cheap. :)

18 years ago

I put a link below to a picture I took today of a project I did today.

Y'know those gazebo tent things? Well, someone was giving one away at a garage sale because theirs blew over in the wind and the connections broke. It looked like free trellis to me!

So I brought that home and screwed them to my raised beds. Which were made with free wood from construction site scrap piles and free manure from a neighboring farm. The perrenials in the raised beds (which haven't come up yet this year, of course) were free as starts from a friend. Even the screws I used were .50 cents from a garage sale.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:50231}}

Comments (11)

  • 18 years ago

    Wow, the trellis looks great. Actually, everything looks great. Isn't it fun to make good use of stuff someone else doesn't want.

    With spring getting closer, I'm watching the trash on garbage pick up days closer than usual :) You just never know what might show up there.

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks, naturegirl_2007! It's getting so I can't even imagine the "fun" of just being able to buy something expensive at full retail price. :)

    Oh, you mean you look at other people's curbs on trash morning? Like, what kind of junk they have left out? I've never really done that. I'd be afraid I'd find something I want and then go rummaging and get in trouble. :)

    But I have made many a chicken coop out of the wood taken from pallets. It was a lot of crow-baring to get the boards all separated, but free! And good exercise.

    So yeah, now with the broken gazebo parts I have sturdy, rather permanent tomato trellises or maybe peas.

  • 18 years ago

    I've made some great finds from garbage piles. I got a great kids 4-drawer plastic dresser that works for garden tools. Another time, somebody was throwing away 2 Palm trees, 5' tall! Just put them in the back of my car and now they're happy in my kitchen! Also found some free flower pots on the side of the road.

    Keep your eyes open!

    Florrie

  • 18 years ago

    Oh yes, I have many things at my house that came from the trash. Sometimes I go ask the homeowner, most are glad to see someone put the item to use. Others just say, "Sure", and look at me like I'm crazy. And sometimes, I just take it. No one ever hasseled me. My most recent "rescue" was a wheeled plastic three bin cart. It now holds assorted office supplies, very neatly I might add. Awhile back I picked up a somewhat flimsy coat rack that looks like it may work very well as a support for the strings of a veggie trellis. I plan to try it out after the snow melts. Springtime and fall are good times to stock up on pots. Spring has ones from the nursery transplants. Fall is better yet with droopy end of summer plants in "real" pots. I add the soil to my compost heap, sometimes I revive the plant, sometimes it gets composted and the pot gets used for something else. Oh, yes, I love garbage day....and my husband dreads it. But I've been good lately and not brought much home.

  • 18 years ago

    Those are such beautiful trellises!! I applaud you!

  • 18 years ago

    Thank you, mid_tn_mama! I think they turned out pretty rad for being free. :) That makes them even more cool in my opinion. Can you imagine there are people out there who find things *less* cool because it was free? They *want* to pay retail! :) Is the motto around this forum, "Retail is for suckers?" :P I say that a lot; my husband wasn't too keen on it but now he sometimes says it. :)

    -Katy

  • 18 years ago

    Wow! That looks great!

    I can definitely see those covered in gorgeous blooms this spring/summer. Great find!

    Alexa

  • 18 years ago

    Thank you, caliloo/Alexa! I hope they stay steady with growth on them, and also in a storm. I think they will last awhile. Probably better than the cheapo tomato cages that the indeterminates outgrow in a few weeks. :)

    -Katy

  • 18 years ago

    Katy, you're not cheap, you're ingenious! Only a frugal gardener would of seen the potential in those. If you would of purchased those as a garden trellis, it would of been big bucks!

    I am always on the watch for what someone is throwing out and I also keep an eye on our local Freecycle site for potential garden aides! By the way, my husband hates it too!

    Elaine

  • 18 years ago

    i must say they look pretty darned good!! :'))
    my hubby's the same way!! i love it to though, althoug he don't mind if my mom and i go curb shopping!! and i bring home a nice dresser from a nice neighborhood!! LOL :')) they were getting rid of it cuz they got a new one, it works perfectly still!! :'))

  • 18 years ago

    great looking trellises. not cheap, thrifty and very inventive. think how much you would have paid for them if you had bought them somewhere, or had them made. great job
    and great find. they will be wonderful when you get them planted. flowering vines or vegetables will be perfect on them. vicki

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