Ways to Reuse a Potting Mix Bag

Make a Flower Bag

• Use smaller, 5-pound bags for this project. Poke drainage holes in the bottom of the bag. Stand the bag upright and add a 4-inch layer of mixed potting soil and compost. Cut a series of three X shapes, about 2 inches tall, in the bag at the level of the soil. Plant a petunia in each X hole, laying the petunia in the hole sideways with the root ball lying at the top of the soil. Add another 4-inch layer of soil, then add more X cuts and plant more petunias. Keep adding plants until you have about 4 inches of extra space at the top of the bag. Lay the bag flat and leave it for three weeks while the flowers establish their roots. Then, hang the bag in a sunny spot and water it thoroughly. The petunias will fill out and create the look of a ball of flowers around the bag's base.

Line Makeshift Planters

• Continue with the recycling theme and turn found objects into attractive planting containers, using the potting-mix bags as liners. Use the bags to line old boots, baskets, Lego constructions or any other creative item with a hollow space in the middle. Add gravel to the bottom of each bag for drainage. Fill the bag with potting soil mixed with compost and plant your found objects with a variety of decorative seedlings.

Crochet a Mud Mat

• Cut strips of tough plastic from the leftover bags to create plarn, or plastic yarn. Use this yarn to crochet a tough rectangle. Place the rectangle at your back door and use it as a mat for scraping off the mud from your shoes before going inside. Use a plarn-crocheted rectangle as a pouch to carry harvested vegetables to the hose and drain them before bringing them into the house.

Store Your Tools

• Create a handy storage spot for all your small gardening tools and accessories like trowels, gloves and small spoons and chopsticks used for container gardening. Poke drainage holes in the bottom of a smaller potting-mix bag. Place all the dirty tools in the bag and allow any moisture to drip off and away from the utensils. Hang the bag on a nail or hook in your garage or gardening shed.