7 Easy Ways to Repurpose Wine Corks in Your Garden

Don't toss your wine corks—put them to use in your garden! Whether you have a whole collection saved for that craft project you keep putting off, or just one or two, corks can enhance your outdoor space right now in lots of clever ways. With just a few tools and supplies, here's how to reuse wine corks for pretty and practical purposes around your garden.

1. Plant Markers

Turn wine corks into simple DIY plant markers with just a permanent marker and wooden skewers. Write the plant's name on the side of the cork with your marker, or you could get fancy and use a woodburning pen, if you have one. Then stab the sharp end of a skewer into one end of your cork, depending on if you want to read the word from the top going down or starting at the bottom end of the cork.

Your new plant markers will add rustic, homespun charm to veggie beds, herb gardens, and container gardens. The cork will hold up well to the elements, lasting at least a growing season.

2. Pot Feet

Pots and planters drain better when raised up a little from a flat surface. You can buy pot feet or plant stands to do the job, but wine corks offer another simple solution. Cut a few corks in half the short way, then glue them to the bottom of your pots before filling with soil.

Make sure to cut the corks so the pieces are exactly the same height so you can keep the pot level. The extra space allows water to flow away from the pot's base, which helps avoid root rot as well as staining on patios or decks. You can also set the pot in a saucer, where the cork feet will prevent the bottom of the pot from sitting in water, which can keep the soil too wet.

3. Mulch for Pots

Natural corks (as opposed to the synthetic ones) are made from the bark of cork oak trees, and like the bark from other trees, you can use it as mulch. Break up your leftover wine corks into small chunks, then layer them around the base of your plants as DIY mulch. Because cork is buoyant, it's best to use this mulch in container gardens where the rim of your pot will stop them from floating away in a downpour. Just like other types of organic mulch, your cork mulch will help conserve moisture, stop weeds, and eventually will break down into the soil.

4. Make a Garden Kneeling Pad

If you have a large collection of corks, or have some wine-drinking friends who'd like to contribute to the cause, you can make a simple kneeling pad for gardening. Hot glue the corks side-by-side in a rectangular shape. Aim for your total surface to measure 21-36 inches long and 14-18 inches wide. Glue your cork rectangle on top of an inexpensive outdoor waterproof mat for extra stability. Trim the mat to fit the corks if necessary. The corks will help cushion your knees next time you need to weed or plant.

5. Fairy Garden Accessories

Let your imagination loose to repurpose wine corks in all sorts of fanciful ways for fairy gardens. For example, you can stand the corks on end to serve as edging for a tiny garden path, shown above. Or you can slice them into coins that can serve as stepping stones. Halve your corks length-wise, and use them to create adorable, log-like steps. Give one of these half cork pieces four toothpick legs, and you have a rustic garden bench perfect for a fairy scene.

6. Topper for Stakes

Bamboo poles or other types of stakes make sturdy supports for tall veggies and flowers. But they can become a safety hazard when you're working around them. Top the ends with wine corks to help make them less damaging if one does poke you in the eye. Plus you can paint the corks with bright colors to help make the ends of stakes more visible.

7. Compost Your Corks

If you're not feeling crafty but you don't want to just throw out your wine corks, simply add them to your compost bin. Cut them up into small pieces to help them break down faster. They count as a "brown" material in your compost, which should be layered with "green" materials for the composting process to work best.