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So right now I'm going to show you
some of the tools you must have in your garden.
And also we're going to show you how
to utilize and save some space in your garden
by making containers.
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Right now, I'm going to show you some of the things
that you can use for containers in your garden.
I have a way--
to me there's no trash.
there's only art waiting to happen.
So I use a lot of old stuff.
If it can hold soil, I'm putting a plant in it.
Because all I have to do is use this to put holes in it.
Like this, this old suitcase can be used for a planter.
Actually, this too.
You can put-- you can put plants in here,
drill some holes in it.
What we might do if you want it in your garden,
you can put some feet on it so it gets air from the bottom
and it drains.
And there you have a garden.
Same thing with this trunk.
This could be a great garden bed.
And it still has a lot of stylishness
to it because of the metal and the buckles and the leather.
I like that rustic look.
This teapot.
I collect teapots.
Something about teapots, I don't--
I just love the design.
Put a plant in them, drill some holes.
These are nice centerpieces for you-- for your parties.
This is a good one, dresser drawers, not
the plastic new ones they have, but the real wood drawers.
So what we would do is I would take this
and I would make drainage holes in it.
And I would-- what I would also do with this
is I would reinforce it.
I'd probably get a couple of screws and just reinforce it.
Put a couple of screws in each side,
because once you get it-- once just gets moisture in it,
the work-- the wood is going to swell.
And it's going to break apart.
But I love--
I love this.
I love the design on this, the knob, the keyhole.
It's great.
So we can put some soil in here.
And then you can make a succulent garden
or you can put your kale in here, whatever you want.
So all of these things can be gardens.
Don't look at what it is.
Look at what it has the possibility to be.
That's how we need to do all our so-called waste.
We need to reposition it, repurpose it, and give it
another lifecycle, like we did with this, like for instance,
this shoe with these succulents in it.
You can put all kinds of different plants
in this, like you can take, you know,
your boyfriend's old boot that he
left when you kicked him out the house and put some soil in it.
Bam, this could happen.
You can almost plant in anything.
But if you're going to eat it, there's certain things
that I wouldn't plant in.
Like if I'm going to eat the food,
I wouldn't plant in a suitcase.
And there's definitely some things you should avoid,
like treated wood, treated lumber.
It has toxins in it.
And it's made to kill and resist termites
in different conditions.
And also plastics, like plastics with BPA in it,
I wouldn't I wouldn't use those, definitely
in a garden because they break down into particles.
And they get it-- they leach into the soil.
And they break down into the soil,
just like they're breaking down into our oceans.
So what do I do with these plants that
come in these plastic pots?
I get them out of this pot as soon as possible.
And I recycle this.
And this can go into any of the previous pots
that we've talked about, from the crates to the dresser
drawers to the terracotta pots.
Or you can put this straight in the ground.
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So let's get started.
I'm going to show you how to take this old dresser drawer
and turn it into a garden.
First, we want to fill it with soil
after we put the drainage holes in and the feet on the bottom.
Your drainage in your soil is very important,
because if your soil is too wet, it can rot your plant.
So you need drainage.
And another way if you don't want
to drill through something, you can put rocks in here.
And that will be-- help your drainage.
And you can put a combination of rocks and sand in here.
Especially if we're going to put a succulent in here,
it would be great to do.
This shows you how much soil one of these scoops can handle.
This is when it comes in handy, when you have to fill pots,
rather than using your spade.
See the difference in volume.
This saves time and energy.
That's what you want in your garden.
But we're going to talk about tools in a minute.
Breaking up some of the big chunks in here.
These white rocks are puffed up stone.
So we've got our soil, some great soil.
And we have some compost.
And a lot of times you want to put, I don't know,
a couple of inches, sometimes a layer of-- of compost.
And you can mix it in.
A lot of people leave it right on top.
And then maybe a few weeks, I add some more compost
on top of the container, because it helps hold the moisture.
There's dead bug bodies in here and all kinds of shit.
Oops, what happened to--
once we get the plants in, we can use this for a mulch.
We can use this saw dust us as a mulch,
because it actually absorbs water.
And it holds the water also.
So what makes your--
what makes the garden--
the soil dry is that thermonuclear thing in the sky
called the sun.
That's basically why your soil dries out.
And so mulching protects your soil from that a little longer.
And it will hold the moisture content a lot more.
But things like this, wetting them,
they-- they act like a sponge for your garden.
So here you have it.
Basically to make a piece of art out of a piece of what
some people would call trash, that they probably
would leave on the street.
It's some soil, some compost, a couple of tools,
and we're going to put some beautiful plants in here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Right now we're going to talk about some of the tools
you need in your garden, especially if you're going
to be a gangster gardener.
One of my favs, the hori-hori.
It has a sharp edge and it has a serrated edge
for when you're in the ground and you need to cut roots.
Or you can cut branches with this.
It has a rope cutter on it.
And it has a measurement gauge on it,
so you can see how far you're planting,
like if you're planting bulbs, they
need to be at a certain depth in the soil.
So this is indispensable.
And a nice knife.
It could be, you know, a pocket knife.
But I like to have these throughout the gardens.
Because when you're in the garden and you--
you want to trim things up, you know, you don't need a big--
big pair of clippers.
And you can just cut things like that.
Garden spade.
You need several of these, because you're
going to lose them, because you're going
to leave them in the garden.
But you also need several different kinds.
You have one that's wide.
You have one might have a sharper tip on it,
and one that's narrower that goes straight in.
This way if you're planting in small beds,
it won't disrupt the other plants that are around.
Clippers.
These are indispensable because if you're trimming your--
your trees and vines, you need a nice pair of strong clippers.
And these-- this is, you know, you can find these
and they're cheap.
You can probably get them from $5, $10.
They work.
But they're not this.
So I'd rather just spend all my-- you know, spend more money
and get a nice pair rather than getting these cheap pair.
They just don't work for me.
I guess the size of my hands.
This is a garden scoop.
So if you're filling--
say if you're filling this pot with soil,
see how much soil you can get in here.
And that's what you need these for.
It saves a lot of time.
And you can get more volume in the pot.
A drill.
I like to have one with a battery.
Ones with cords a lot of times are stronger,
but when you're in the garden and you need a drill,
if you're repairing something, this works.
And plus what I use this for is to--
especially this bit is to drill holes in the bottom of--
of some of the boxes for drainage.
When you're using like something like this,
if you want to use this for a garden container, this,
you put-- you--
it;s going to need drainage holes.
And you're going to need a couple of pair of good gloves.
I like a combination of leather with different kinds of fabric,
but also straight leather because a lot
of times you can-- you can feel better with them.
If you're working in an urban area,
especially on the street, a parkway, or a front yard,
a lot of times it has glass and different things in the soil.
And this will help you out.
A saw.
You're going to need a saw.
This is nice pruner, even separating succulents,
separating banana trees.
You're going to need a saw.
So get one.
Get a nice one too.
This is a good idea, especially if you have a small garden
or small people in your garden is to have a small shovel.
This is good.
Sometimes you can even get one with a smaller head,
that way you're not disturbing the rest of the garden
when you have to dig or plant a bigger plant.
So shovel.
Size does matter in the garden.
So you can use this for breaking compacted soil.
It's a digging shovel.
I like a shovel that has a little more point on it.
But this is a good shovel if you have good loamy soil.
And a lot of times people are using the shovel wrong.
They-- they use it.
And they wind up hurting themselves.
When you're gardening, you shouldn't get up and be sore.
And a lot of times, that has-- that it
has to do with the ergonomics of the way you're
using the shovel or the tools you're using.
So what I like to do with a shovel, I like to basically,
when I'm going into the-- the soil,
is not to force myself because you see what you're doing when
you're forcing, you're lifting your shoulders
and you're-- you're trying to drive it in.
And you're putting all the shock in your body.
So what-- what you want to incorporate
is some moves like Tai Chi moves,
like you go in so the-- the-- the bold move in Tai Chi,
you use this with your shovel.
You don't try to use your strength,
because what you're going to wind up doing
is fucking up your shoulders and you're back.
And you're going to be sore.
And you're like I don't want to garden no more.
And another thing that people do is they don't switch sides,
everything happens from the same side.
And what you want to do to get balanced in your body
is to shovel and change it.
With any-- with almost any tool you--
you use, you want to try to switch sides.
And just practice that, switching sides.
That way you're working both sides,
because a lot of people they just go with the dominant hand.