Sherri emailed to ask:

Any ideas on using an old kids slide in the veggie garden?

I like that she added the “in the veggie garden” bit because that’s nearly always where my mind goes first and I worry that I come off as a bit obsessed with growing in random recycled things! ;)

I’m presuming that the slide is made from formed plastic – as that seems to be the thing for garden slides these days – but the ladder section might be chunky plastic or more slender metal, depending on the size of the slide. Either way, they could be used to add height to a veg garden such as providing supports for climbers or for vertical gardening — propped up against a wall, chunky plastic ladders might be suitable for use as a ladder planter (ideal for small pots of herbs and/or salad leaves) or hanging baskets etc could be hooked onto a metal ladder with thin rungs.

Depending on the shape of the slide section, it might be suitable to use in a few different ways in a veg garden – if it’s flat (rather than wavy/bumpy or overly shaped at the top & bottom), it could be used as a water-catching trough underneath pots/containers or adapted into a potting bench type thing (the sides of the slide would stop surplus soil going all over the place … I’m a messy gardener with a soil shortage so this sort of thing would be very beneficial for me!).

Any other veg growing/gardening suggestions?

What about other ideas for reuses or recycling ideas for such a slide?