When Hilltop Drive in Redding,Calif., got a new look, the busy street's old manhole and utility covers got junked. Artist Kathy Hill noticed them in a scrap heap. She looked at the cast-iron circles and concrete rectangles and didn't see junk – she saw potential.
She brought several to her Redding home (with the permission of the project contractor, who was glad to see them go) to use as accents and to create a stepping-stone path. Kathy and her husband, Tim, are converting their yard from flat lawn with juniper into a drought-resistant design featuring native plants in mounds and a seating area with arbor. The utility covers add character and a bit of humor, Kathy said.
"What a great use of materials that they were just going to throw away," Tim said.
There are many creative ways to give life's discards new meaning in home landscapes.
Allen Woodward of WLMS Landscaping in Redding came up with a bright idea last year. He makes colorful, translucent borders with recycled glass that glow at night. The glass, which Woodward purchases from suppliers who crush or tumble it to blunt the edges, is placed in narrow, shallow troughs lined with rope LED lights. Woodward has used the recycled-glass accents to add dazzle around pools and patios and between pavers.
"Using a recycled product made sense," said Woodward, who emphasizes water-saving devices and designs in his business. "Because we've done so much conservation with water, it opened our eyes to other opportunities."
When sizing up a job, Woodward looks for ways to make use of what's already there. He once took a discarded cast-iron tub at the side of a home and turned it into a water feature with a fountain. He's used concrete chunks from torn-out patios and walkways to make retaining walls.
"Anytime something presents itself, we try to reuse a product that was used somewhere else," he said
Leslie Irey of Redding repurposes old lumber, concrete, bricks and other materials in her business, Leslie Irey Garden Designs.
"What better time, than in tough economic times, to reuse materials rather than throw them away and buy something new," she said.
Sustainability is the theme of her business. Finding new uses for old items keeps materials out of landfills and saves natural resources that would be needed to make and transport new materials, she said. It also can save homeowners' money.
"Why pay dollars to have it hauled away to the landfill if you can keep it on site?" Irey said.
When she redesigned her Redding yard, Irey used pieces of a concrete slab that was taken out to create a walkway. The angular concrete pieces are surrounded by gravel, which allows rain to seep into the ground rather than become runoff. The walkway is an example of "urbanite" – repurposed concrete.
"It can be stacked for stone seating, used for retaining walls, stepping stones and entryways," Irey said.
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