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What goes around comes around as art

Photos by LYNN BARBER

A prehistoric metal dragon and toad condo were among this year's Recycled Yard Art winners.

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By PENNY CARNATHAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2009

Updated: 11/13/2009 06:33 pm

Gardeners tend to be natural recyclers. Egg cartons become seed trays, cucumber peels turn into compost, begonia cuttings beget new begonias.

The especially creative take it a step further. Old truck parts, shovels and chains can become a bug-eyed dragon sculpture to guard the veggie bed. Pieces of broken dishes find new life as a mosaic plant container.

The gardener gets unique yard art, and the landfill gets a little less junk.

To encourage such thrifty creation, the Hillsborough Extension Service and the county's Waste Management department sponsor the annual Recycled Yard Art contest. It's open to any Hillsborough County resident, and it's held each year in conjunction with the county fair.

This year's winners, announced last week, took home $425 in prize money. Their work will be displayed at the Hillsborough Extension office, 5339 County Road 579, Seffner, through the end of the year.

The aforementioned dragon and mosaic cat planter were among the winners, but salvage yard art doesn't always require tools or skill. A good example: Prop an old mirror against a fence to reflect a particularly pretty spot in the garden.

"I like old chairs," says Lynn Barber, the extension Yards & Neighborhoods agent who got the yard art contest going last year. "Cut out the bottom, and put in chicken wire to hold a pot or a plant."

Create a mobile from antique kitchen paraphernalia, she suggests, or attach tillandsia bromeliads - air plants - to just about anything using Liquid Nails or wire.

If you're recycling a wooden object, give it a few coats of marine-grade polyurethane to extend its life outdoors.

A great new book, "The Dirt Cheap Green Thumb" from Storey Publishing, offers a few precautions:

•Don't use old tires for growing food - chemical residue in the rubber may leach into the plants.

•Don't use railroad ties or landscape timbers that have been treated with a lead-based paint or wood preservative other than copper napthenate.

•Make sure any material used in a veggie garden is free of toxins.

Penny Carnathan

2009 Hillsborough County Recycled Yard Art winners

(Not pictured: Schools winner Dowdell Middle's Toad Condo with Rooftop Bird Feeder)

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