We’ve had an email from Kacy, asking:

What can I do with a gazebo tent? The ones you put over barbecues in the garden.

Pop-up gazebos have been very popular in the UK over the last few years because they’re a quick and easy way to provide shade from the blazing hot sun (or, more likely, from the endless drizzle) – but because they’re so popular, they’re often cheaply made and not that stable or long lasting. They’re usually a polyester (or the like) cover over a steel tube frame, some with sides to make a full tent and some with guy ropes for extra stability.

The steel poles can be used instead of canes around the garden. I suspect most probably wouldn’t be strong enough to use as a frame for a pergola – the weight of the plants might be too much for it.

The fabric cover could probably be used in a lot of same reuses as other tents – suggestions include using it to make bags & kites, using it as a pond liner or to make small shades for kids/people fishing.

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Carolyn asking what she can do with some plastic buckets that have “split at the bottom”.

The first ideas that spring to mind take advantage of the fact it’s now not water tight – use it as a garden planter or an upside down planter next summer. You might even have to add more holes to it to allow adequate drainage or for more shoots to poke through.

You can also very easily use it as a caddy too – but patch the split/hole with something like duct tape so stop the split spreading any further and to stop little things falling out. You could use it for holding brushes/tools while you’re up a ladder, for fruit/veg collection or for dumping weeds in while working around the garden (saving multiple trips to the compost bin).

I’m sure there are lots of other uses around the garden too – what do you do with them?

We’ve had a little (1ftx3ft) greenhouse in our garden for about five years now – it started off as an actual greenhouse for growing things in but quickly became the cats’ favourite hang-out and the winter home of the local stray cat, so we dropped the growing things pretence and it’s now kitted out with old sofa cushions for the ultimate cat luxury.

It’s a simple – cheap – thing: hollow metal tubes and two shelves, covered by a shaped plastic sheet, with a zipped door flap at the front. The main problem we’ve had is when one cat is in the greenhouse, it’s not uncommon for a second cat to sleep on the roof – and under the heat of the sun/weight of the cat, the roof sags and eventually rips. That’s happened twice now and we’ve repaired it for as long as possible, then ordered new covers off the internetz – still not ideal though.

I’ve looked into buying little glass/solid plastic paned ones but they’re pretty rare compared to large ones and seem really expensive for the size of them. We’ve not got room for a big greenhouse but it would be great to make one that could be used by both the cats and our growing needs.

I know some people make them with old windows and they’ll depend on exactly what type of windows are at hand but anyone got any suggestions/advice? What other types of materials could I use? Does it have to be clear-clear or is reasonably translucent enough? What shape would be best – square? sloped roof? round? polytunnel-ish? biodome?

We’ve had an email from Rob asking what a million people up and down the UK will be asking given the recent rush of awesome weather:

How can I recycle charcoal from the BBQ?

At the moment it’s still sitting in there but need to clean it out soon. Any suggestions instead of chucking it out?

As I’ve said before in relations to ashes from bonfires, ash from wood fires – untreated, unpainted wood – can be used in the compost heap or in the garden to bring down the acidity of the compost/soil (don’t use too much though, then it’ll get too alkaline).

But most of the charcoal briquettes that people use on barbecues tend to have random things added that you wouldn’t necessarily want in your compost heap – so unless you know they’re 100% wood based, it would be safer to leave them off your heap/veg plot.

So any there any things that can be done with them instead?

We’ve had an email from Jamie:

What can I do with an old concrete wall? It was in panels so came apart quite easily. I’ve got 12 panels in total, each about 1′ by 4′. They’re flat on one side and have a slight raised design on the other.

They’re not in perfect condition because they’re probably 20 years old but they’re ok. We took them down because it made the garden look like a prison yard and we thought a hedge would be nicer instead!

Our beloved friend Freecycle is an obvious thought here – someone else might dig that prison yard aesthetic.

Depending on how thick/strong they are, using them as paving might be another idea – perhaps in a low traffic area of the garden if they’re not as solid as patio flags (lining paths in a veg plot springs to mind).

If you’re willing to break them down, I dare say the concrete could be used for all sorts of things that need a bit of extra weight – the bottoms of planters for example. Ooh, that’s another idea: as giant coasters under tubs on fancy patios/decking, for when you don’t want the run off from the tubs to damage the stone/wood.

Any other ideas? Suggestions for using them whole and in bits are both welcome.

(Stock photo by sundstrom)