Why plastic has crept into the potting shed

Walk round any British garden and you will find it: stacks of black pots going brittle in the sun, a roll of weed membrane flapping under the raspberries, seed trays that crack the moment you flex them. None of it is kerbside recyclable, and most of it ends up in the bin after two or three seasons. The good news is that the alternatives are older than plastic itself, and many of them work rather better. Between natural pots, homemade mulches and a bit of thrift, you can cut a surprising amount of it out of your gardening year.

Pots that rot, crumble and feed the soil

Coir pots, cardboard tubes and terracotta all do the same job as a plastic pot, with none of the guilt. Each suits a different task, so it pays to keep a mixture to hand.

• Coir and wood-pulp pots are ideal for anything that resents root disturbance — sweet peas, runner beans, courgettes, leeks. Soak them thoroughly before filling, then plant the whole thing out. The roots grow straight through the wall, and the pot breaks down in the soil within a season or two.
• Cardboard loo rolls make free, deep root trainers for parsnips, carrots and sweet peas. Stand them shoulder to shoulder in a tray so they hold their shape, and keep them damp — cardboard wicks water away fast in a sunny greenhouse.
• Newspaper pots cost nothing at all. Fold a sheet around a jam jar, tuck the base, slide it off and fill. They collapse after a few weeks of watering, so sow something quick — salads, radish, annual herbs — and get them in the ground promptly.
• Terracotta is the long game. Buy it secondhand from car boot sales and charity shops, choose frost-proof pieces, and it will outlive you. Because it is porous it dries out faster than plastic, which suits rosemary, thyme, lavender and other Mediterranean herbs. Line the inside with a sheet of newspaper if you are growing something thirstier.

Wooden seed trays, slatted or solid, are worth hunting down too. They breathe, they stack neatly, and a rub of linseed oil every few years keeps them going for decades.

Mulches that do the work of plastic sheeting

A good mulch suppresses weeds, holds moisture and slowly feeds the soil as it breaks down — three jobs that weed membrane never does properly. Spread it over damp ground in spring, once the soil has warmed, or in autumn after a tidy-up. Aim for a layer 5–8cm deep, and always keep it clear of stems and trunks to avoid rotting the collar of shrubs and fruit trees.

• Composted bark is the classic choice for beds and borders. It knits together into a weed-smothering blanket and looks smart around shrubs, roses and soft fruit.
• Straw is superb under strawberries, keeping fruit clean and dry, and around courgettes and squash, where it traps moisture and makes a barrier that slugs dislike. Use barley or wheat straw rather than hay, which is full of seeds.
• Leaf mould is the finest mulch of all for woodland plants — ferns, hellebores, snowdrops, bluebells in a shady corner. Spread it thinly and let the worms pull it down.
• Garden compost doubles as a soil improver. A 5cm layer on the vegetable patch each autumn will transform heavy clay within three or four years.
• Grass clippings work well around established perennials if applied in thin layers and allowed to dry between mowings. Thick, wet piles turn slimy and smell — think of them as a seasoning, not the whole dish.

Foraging the hedgerow — with a light hand

Late spring and early summer are the best time to gather your own soil food. Nettle tops, picked before they flower and steeped in a bucket of water for a fortnight, make a potent liquid feed. Comfrey leaves laid under fruit bushes release potassium as they rot — a free mulch and a tonic in one. Both are plants you can take from freely, because they regrow within weeks.

What you should not do is strip the hedgerow floor. Fallen leaves, dead wood and tussocky grass are the overwintering homes of hedgehogs, slow worms, beetles and moth pupae, and the birds that feed on them. Take only what is abundant, never dig up a wild plant, and leave seedheads where they stand — they are winter larder for finches and field mice. If you garden beside a hedge, the kindest thing you can do is leave a rough margin uncut and let the leaf litter lie.

Making your own leaf mould and compost

Leaf mould is the cheapest mulch in Britain and it is essentially free. Rake leaves into a wire bin or a few bin bags punched with holes, keep them damp, and leave them alone. Oak, beech and hornbeam take two years to break down; sycamore, lime and horse chestnut manage it in one. The crumbly, dark result is superb as a mulch, as a seed-sowing ingredient mixed half and half with garden compost, and as a top dressing for ferns and woodland planting.

For compost, keep the balance roughly two parts brown material — cardboard, shredded paper, dead stems, autumn leaves — to one part green. Turn it when you remember, and cover it in winter to stop it waterlogging.

Small habits that add up

Wash and reuse every pot until it splits; a scrubbing brush and a bucket of hot water is all it takes. Swap plastic plant ties for twine and wooden labels for cut-up yoghurt pots or slates. Choose peat-free growing media, since peat bogs store carbon we cannot afford to lose. And when you buy in plants, ask for them bare-root or in fibre pots wherever you can.

None of this needs to happen overnight. Start with one bed mulched in leaf mould and one tray of coir pots, and by next autumn you will wonder why you ever bothered with the black stuff at all.