Guide · 3 min read
A garden with less plastic in the soil
Plastic pots, trays and stakes crack and fragment outdoors. Terracotta, metal and bamboo are the lasting alternatives.
Garden plastic, the nursery pots, seed trays and stakes, cracks and fragments outdoors into long-lived microplastics that end up in soil and, eventually, food. Earthen and metal alternatives either biodegrade cleanly or effectively never wear out.
Lose the plastic pots and trays
Terracotta pots are fully biodegradable, soil blocking eliminates plastic seed trays entirely, and a galvanised-steel raised bed lasts decades without the cracking and leaching of plastic beds.
Tools and supports
A stainless trowel with an FSC hardwood handle and natural bamboo stakes replace the plastic versions that snap, fade and litter the beds after a season or two.
Common questions
- What is soil blocking?
- A metal mould compresses potting mix into self-supporting blocks for seedlings, so you skip plastic seed trays and cell packs entirely while growing stronger, less root-bound transplants.
- Why does garden plastic matter for microplastics?
- Plastic pots, mulch films and trays fragment in sun and soil into microplastics that accumulate in the ground and can end up in the food you grow.
Sources