5 Smart Garden Uses for This Dollar Store Waste Basket

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conducting wire waste baskets from one dollar bill depot have all kind of handy uses in the garden . Perfect for protect seedlings and youthful plant and sifting compost , internet baskets are really an indispensable garden tool .

need more depleted - cost hacks ? Also see10 Surprisingly Good Dollar Store find for Gardeners .

Mesh waste basket from the dollar store used to protect garden plants.

Wire mesh baskets have many handy uses in the garden

Mesh Waste Basket Garden Hacks

dollar bill storage are a miscellaneous bag : some items are a skillful economic value ; others seem like a wastefulness of a dollar !

But one thing I ’ve never regretted buying are thesevinyl - surface mesh waste baskets . They have many uses in the garden and are surprisingly perdurable . I bought a few twelve of them years ago and they ’re still going strong today .

size change somewhat between dollar stores but most sell a full - size hoop like the one shown here ( approximately 10 to 12 - inches marvelous ) and a small interpretation about half that elevation .

Examples of ways to use mesh baskets in the garden including plant cloches, compost sifter, and hosta root protector.

Examples of mesh basket uses in the garden

When shopping , be sure you ’re getting ones with 1/2 - inch gap in the mesh . There are other mesh waste field goal — unremarkably more expensive — with much minor gaps ( 1/8 - in ) and a upstanding basis ( not mesh ) but they are not as useful .

While this is an cheap token , it ’s impossible to find them online by mail - ordering due to the size ( transportation costs ) , so you ’ll likely have to buy at in - person at your nearestdollar treeor similar store .

Now let ’s look at some of the ways you could use them .

Vinyl-coated mesh basket from a dollar store.

1Protective Cloche for Seedlings and Young Plants

If you ’ve ever had birds or other garden critter like squirrel and chipmunk eat or dig up your newly spud seedlings or freshly - embed plant life , a cloche can redeem the twenty-four hours . Or , in this case , an upside - down mesh waste basket .

I employ mesh waste baskets over all of my outdoor seedlings and transplants in muckle , raised bed , and any in - ground plantings .

These protect my youngsunflowers , pea plant , all other saucily - plantedvegetable crop , and belittled fruiting plants likestrawberries .

Vegetable planter with and without mesh basket protecting the plant.

you could secure them in place with tent leg orlandscape staples(also called “ garden stake pin ” ) if your brute are extra - determined .

I remove the field goal when the plant start to outgrow them and can fend for themselves .

Related:16 Garden Vegetables That Sweeten with Frost

Vegetable planter with and without mesh basket protecting the plant.

2Compost Sifter

This is n’t really hardheaded for sift large volume ofcompost , but it works like a charm for small lots .

Fill the mesh basket with compost and shake it over another container .

The mesh is just the proper size of it to sift out large pieces and have the safe compost fall to the container below .

Root vegetables that sweeten after exposure to frost conditions.

I do this when I demand small amounts to top up outside container .

Related : Compost Versus Compost Tea : Which is Better ?

3Vole Control

I remember seeing this idea in a Garden Club newssheet eld ago but I ’ve never had a vole problem to essay it out myself . But I ’ve seen so many gardener say it function , I ’m confident it can aid .

To keep voles from jaw the roots ofhostas , dig up the hosta and replant it in a mesh handbasket using the same filth . This point could work for any small-scale works or bulbs the critters are demolishing underground .

The basket is buried with the lip just above soil level .

Mesh basket used to sift garden compost.

The shoal - root of the hosta do fine , and the field mouse , unable to dig through the mesh , go elsewhere for dinner party .

you’re able to also buywire baskets to discourage voles and gophers .

come to : Deer - proofing Your Garden : Does Anything Really bring ?

Bucket of compost tea in the garden.

4Caddy for Small Garden Tools

This is what I use when weed the garden . The tumid container is for the pulled weeds and the mesh basket on the side — attached with a largebinder clip — keep open little tools handy admit mypruners , dandelion puller , and my favoritegarden knife .

I find oneself this really help me keep the tools handy without misplacing them amongst the plants as I work .

Related:25 Vegetable Garden Design & Layout Ideas ( With Photos )

Using a mesh basket to protect hosta roots.

5Pond Filter

This unsubdivided setup can clear mirky pond water within hr . It ’s a variation of myEmpress of Dirt Quilt Batting Method for Clean Pond Water .

How does it work ? A piece of music ofpolyester comforter battingis sandwiched between two meshing baskets . The pond pump is placed inside with the return piss hosepipe propose out the top . The whole matter is lowered into the pond with the lip of the basket just above body of water stratum . The batting works nicely to permeate out algae from the water on its way to the pump .

If you need to spend your garden budget wisely , also see10 Garden Mistakes That Waste Money .

Mesh basket buried in planting hole in garden.