Stop Throwing Out Old Clothes—8 Ways to Use Them in Your Garden Instead

While the garden is home to flowers, fruits, and veggies, it can also be a new home for your old clothes. The next time you're doing a closet clean-out, consider how the items can be repurposed in your garden. From decorative scarecrows to practical heat, frost, and weed barriers, your old t-shirts, sweaters, and more can be just as beneficial (if not more!) in the garden as they were in your closet.

1. Frost Protection

Use old t-shirts for easy barriers to protect your plants from overnight frost. Simply drape the shirt over the top of a small plant, making sure it reaches to the soil to trap warm air underneath. Place rocks or mulch at the bottom of the shirt to make sure cold air stays out overnight. Or, place a wire arch or hoop around the plant before draping the shirt for better support and insulation. If you use a wire support, attach the t-shirt with clothespins or binder clips. Remove the shirt in the morning once temperatures get above freezing to let the plant access sunlight again.

2. Weed Barriers

One of the most practical ways to reuse old clothes in the garden is to turn them into weed barriers. Just like how you would lay garden fabric on top of soil, lay panels of fabric from your old clothes on soil to block weeds from growing in your garden. Cut slits in the fabric where you want to plant seeds, and secure the fabric with a layer of mulch overtop. Remember to only use fabrics that are 100% cotton, wool, or linen so they can eventually break down in the soil.

3. Scarecrows

Scarecrows aren't just for fall—they can be welcome garden additions for the whole growing season. Repurpose old clothes by DIYing a scarecrow for your garden. To make the scarecrow's body, put an old shirt and pair of pants on a cross-shaped frame. Fill the body with straw or dry grass, and tie off the arm and leg holes with twine to secure. Stuff a shirt or pillowcase with straw for the scarecrow's head, and secure it to the wooden frame with twine. Decorate your scarecrow with any other old clothes or accessories until it perfectly fits your garden style.

4. Plant Ties

Cut up old clothes into strips of fabric (preferable 100% cotton) that you can use as plant ties in your garden. Use the strips to tie plants to stakes to help them grow straight or to a trellis to train vining plants. You could even use different colors of strips as a labeling system to tell your plants apart.

5. Compost

You may not initially think to compost old clothes, but items that are made of 100% natural fibers (wool, linen, cotton, hemp) are safe for composting. Before you toss an entire shirt in your compost pile, make sure to cut it into strips or small pieces so it breaks down easier. If the garment hasn't broken down in 6-9 months, the item most likely has synthetic fabrics, so you should remove it from your compost.

6. Kneeling Pads

If you spend any time in the garden, you know the toll hours of planting and weeding can take on your knees. Save your knees from extra wear and tear by using old clothes as garden kneeling pads. Sew panels of shirts and sweatshirts together to create a larger pad, or simply fold a bulky sweatshirt in half.

7. Sun Shade

Even though plants need sun to grow, too much scorching sunshine can be damaging. Use old t-shirts to create makeshift shades to block your garden plants from harmful rays. To make the sun shades, cut off the neck and sleeves of the shirts so you have large panels of fabric. Then, attach the fabric to garden stakes near the plants using clothespins or binder clips, making sure the fabric is 1-3 feet from the tops of the plants.

8. Funky Planters

Take a look through your shoe closet before buying new containers for your potted plants. Turn a pair of old rubber boots into funky potted planters by filling them with soil and flowers. Remember to create a few holes in the bottom of the shoes before filling with soil to ensure your plants have proper water drainage.