Gardening in Tires

Backgrounder

We all need fresh vegetables in our diet to be healthy. And sometimes, growing them ourselves is the only way we can afford to eat them regularly. “But,” you say, “I live in the city. I don’t have space to grow vegetables.” Well, just because you live in a city doesn’t mean you can’t have a garden. You don’t need a lot of space or land. Try gardening in old tires!

The best thing about tire gardens is that you can set them up and move them just about anywhere. You can garden on a cement patio, on flat rock, on a rooftop, on a steep hillside, even on the roots under a tree. You may want to look for land that no one is using. Maybe you can set up your tire garden there.

All you will need to start are several old tires, some plastic sheets, soil or growing mix, and plant seeds. The number of tires you use depends on how big a garden you wish to have.

A tire garden is easy to make. You can cut off the top rim of the tire for a wider space to garden or you can garden in the tire without cutting it at all.

To cut the rim, lay a tire flat on the ground. The rim is the whole top section from the side to the hole in the centre. Notice that the top rim and bottom rim are exactly the same size. With a knife or machete, cut off the top rim. You can prevent the knife from sticking by pouring a small trickle of water on the rubber just behind the knife.

Next, place a piece of plastic such as a garbage bag inside the tire over the bottom rim. The plastic should be large enough so that it covers the bottom of the tire and one or two inches stand up along the walls. Now turn the top rim that has been cut off upside down and press it in against the bottom rim. It will fit tightly and hold the plastic in place. If you have not cut the rim, use a few stones or gravel to hold the plastic in place on the bottom of the tire.

The plastic sheet in the bottom of the tire helps your garden in two ways. It holds water at the bottom of your garden so your soil does not completely dry out. Any extra water can seep between the plastic and the side of the tire, then out through the bottom. You may want to cut one or two extra small holes in the bottom rim for extra drainage. Plastic also prevents tree roots from growing up into the tire garden.

Now fill the tire with good soil or compost. Make sure the soil is pushed well up against the walls of the tire. Now it is time to sow your seeds. If you are gardening on a cement patio or rooftop, you can place your tire gardens on top of sticks, large stones, bricks, or cement blocks. This will let air blow beneath them and keep the patio or roof dry between waterings.

Most vegetables and herbs grow well in tire gardens as long as you water them regularly. People around the world have successfully grown lettuce, carrots, onions, cabbages, spinach, tomatoes, and peppers. Consider what grows best in your area. If you find the plants are not growing well, you may need to add fertilizer to your garden.

Certain crops do not grow well in tires. Trees are just too tall to grow properly. In the hottest, dry months, plants that need a lot of water such as sweet potatoes may not survive, even if you are watering them properly. Plants with big leaves that spread over a large area such as pumpkins probably need more soil than a tire garden can hold, so you may want avoid planting them. Some very tall plants, 1.5 metres or taller, may be hard to grow because they might tend to lean over and break. However, you could use sticks to support them. But there are no rules for tire gardening. You can experiment with many types of plants. Perhaps you will discover some new methods for growing tall or difficult plants.

If you place your tire gardens on a hillside, you can stop the tires from slipping by placing rocks in front of them on the downhill side. Or you can drive a stake into the ground inside the tire on the uphill side. If you make a row of at least two tire gardens across, you can help stop the rains from washing good soil down the slope.

One way to check when and how much to water your garden is to place an empty flower pot, pipe, or coconut shell in the centre of the tire. This container will collect water so when the water level drops, it may be time to water.

It is a good idea to get some air into your soil. This way, you won’t have to use as much soil, and your garden will be lighter. Add objects to the soil which have a lot of air space in the middle such as plastic bottles, sections of bamboo, or soda pop cans. First you should cut holes into the sides of bottles or cans so plant roots can get through. You can also try using pieces of coconut husks, a layer of coarse weeds or alfalfa hay which also provides extra nutrients to your soil.

Every six months or after two crops have been planted, replace the soil mix in the tire completely with fresh compost and manure. It is possible to use the soil mix longer than this, but other tire gardeners have found that crop production goes down.

To prevent theft or damage by chickens, goats or other animals, place your tire garden on top of something high enough to be out of their reach. Maybe you can think of a way to build a tall holder for your gardens so that four or five of them fit in small narrow space.

If you are growing a plant that requires shade at certain times, you can move the garden out of the sun. Even better, if you move to a new home, you can take your tire garden with you. Now you can tell your neighbours, “Look how easy it is to grow vegetables in the city!”