How Can I Use The Prunings From My Garden?

Rather than throwing prunings on the compost pile, there are lots of ways to use them immediately in your garden.  When pruning have just been cut they are often soft and malleable. It's a good time to bend them in to structures that can help to landscape or support your garden.  

Sticks, of course, are useful for supporting droopy plants. It's easy to stick one in the ground and gently tie your plant to it as it grows. Also, a tepee can be constructed using several sticks. This is useful for climbing plants, like clematis, beans and sweet peas.

Another idea is to use prunings to construct an arched fence around your flowerbeds. Secure each end of a pruning in the ground so that it bends to form an arch. Repeating with lots more arches creates a rustic frame for your flowerbeds.  Large prunings from trees and bushes (olive tree prunings work well) can be bent to create trellises or even a gate. The design is up to your imagination. The prunings can be fastened together with nails and wire.