Tire Gardening
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:08 pm
General Information
A new use for old tires -- A garden using tires
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders98.html
By Charles Sanders
There are mountains of old tires out there. Americans keep on rolling and tires keep on wearing out. Every year there is almost one scrap tire created for every man, woman, and child in the United States. In 2001 alone, Americans discarded nearly 281 million tires, weighing some 5.7 million tons. All of those old treads can provide a lot of good growing space, and we're just the folks to put them to use.
There is no appreciable risk in using recycled tires in the vegetable garden. While it is a fact that rubber tires do contain minute amounts of certain heavy metals, the compounds are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound and do not leach into the soil. One of the ingredients in the rubber recipe is zinc. Zinc, in fact, is an essential plant element. I also expect that rubber is safer to use than treated lumber that contains copper and arsenic. Tires are durable. The very qualities that make them an environmental headache make them perfect for our uses in the garden. Once they are in place, they won't rot and will likely be there for your grandchildren to use..
Let's take a look at some ways to recycle old tires and literally reap the benefits. Gardening with recycled tires has many benefits --- continued at link, above ---
A new use for old tires -- A garden using tires
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders98.html
By Charles Sanders
There are mountains of old tires out there. Americans keep on rolling and tires keep on wearing out. Every year there is almost one scrap tire created for every man, woman, and child in the United States. In 2001 alone, Americans discarded nearly 281 million tires, weighing some 5.7 million tons. All of those old treads can provide a lot of good growing space, and we're just the folks to put them to use.
There is no appreciable risk in using recycled tires in the vegetable garden. While it is a fact that rubber tires do contain minute amounts of certain heavy metals, the compounds are tightly bonded within the actual rubber compound and do not leach into the soil. One of the ingredients in the rubber recipe is zinc. Zinc, in fact, is an essential plant element. I also expect that rubber is safer to use than treated lumber that contains copper and arsenic. Tires are durable. The very qualities that make them an environmental headache make them perfect for our uses in the garden. Once they are in place, they won't rot and will likely be there for your grandchildren to use..
Let's take a look at some ways to recycle old tires and literally reap the benefits. Gardening with recycled tires has many benefits --- continued at link, above ---