Of All things, why a tire garden?

The first time someone told me that I could make tires into a beautiful garden, I had a hard time visualizing it. I had never heard of such a thing. And I couldn’t imagine stinky, dirty, old flat tires in a beautiful flower or veggie garden.

This was about six years ago and ever since then I have been obsessed with tire gardens. Turns out, you can make tires into really beautiful works of art or into beautiful gardens. And I am so here for it, for a lot of reasons. But why would anyone choose a tire for a garden bed?

Let’s talk about why a person would choose to do a tire garden, rather than a traditional raised bed or ground garden.

A major reason is (if you’re like me) you may not have the space for a big ground garden. Most people who live in the city or suburbs don’t have a lot of space for a garden in the ground or for raised beds. In my situation, I have a lot of space, but not a lot of it is sunshine accessible due to the fact I live IN the forest. Literally.

“Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house, we go!” Yeah. I inherited my grandmother's house. Well, technically it was Grandfather. Turns out giant several hundred-year-old trees don’t allow room for a lot of sunlight. So I have a very limited area at the edge of my property that has access to the 12 hours of sunlight a garden needs.

Another aspect, why I chose a tire garden, is because of the type of environment I live in. I live in the forest. On a hill made of clay and rock. Tennessee clay is not ideal for fruits or veggies or flowers. While it’s not the traditional kind, tire gardens are just another type of raised bed that allows you to put soil that will work for your needs when your ground isn’t garden friendly.

Another reason I chose a tire garden is because it’s a great way to upcycle and recycle. Almost everything in my garden is a recycling item. I’m a huge fan of doing my part in leaving the world better than I found it, and I’m trying to teach my kids the same thing. A beautiful tire garden with flowers and yummy veggies is a great way to teach my kids that recycling can be fun, pretty, and artistic, and it’s not all about the separation of plastic and cans.

Wanna know one of the best reasons a tire garden is great? COST EFFICIENCY. Cheap! AFFORDABLE! I love saving money, don’t you?

Believe it or not, you can get used tires for free usually from your local tire stores. A lot of tire businesses have to pay to have their tires hauled away. It’s an expensive process to have tires disposed of. That means that eight out of 10 of your local tire businesses will be more than happy to give you their used tires for free. And you’d be helping them out too!

Support your local businesses people, seriously.

Tires can be stacked into gardens in any design you can think of. Any size or brand will work. You can have pyramids of plants, or flower-shaped garden beds. You can stack them on top of each other for deeper root systems, you can cut them and turn them inside out for fancy-looking pots. You can do many things with tires in the garden, it just makes sense.

So why not give it a try? I’ll be doing an article on HOW to make a successful tire garden- because most people can’t just plop dirt and a plant in a tire and it thrives. There’s a bit of a process. But luckily it’s a fun one! See you in the next article!