Thank you for your sweat, tears and muscles on the project:
Master Gardener, Jerry Patee, for the plan and sticking with us.
Ian Rehrig and friends, UWF students. March 27, 2009
Mike Kelley and Boy Scout Troop 400,
Woodbine United Methodist Church, Pace, Fl. Eagle Scout project. May 8, 2009
For more information or to get your group involved contact:
Dee Dee Green, Recycling Coordinator Escambia County at 850-937-2160 or email ddgreen@myescambia.com
Related Information (cool links):
Felders Front Yard
Whimsy in the Garden...This ain't your Mama's Flower Bed!
UCCE:
Recycle “Useless” Items into “New” Garden Tools
Recycling in the Vegetable Garden
Whimsical Gardening at the Perdido Landfill
Perdido Landfill Whimsical Garden
Perdido Landfill Park Project
- The proposal "to develop a small area of the Escambia County Perdido Landfill into a “Demonstration Reuse Project”.
- To Provide a place for the public and county e employees to enjoy a New Way of looking at Recycling.
- Divert “stuff” out of the landfill and use it in a fun gardening project.
- This is a great learning tool for kids and adults who tour the Perdido Landfill or see it when disposing of items at the CCC. Hopefully it will make them think about other uses for materials.
- The whimsical garden is...
- A garden to bring a smile to your face,
- A garden to rekindle memories,
- A garden to get people to think outside the box,
- A garden that brings a community together, one bottle and one rock at a time!
Master Gardeners helped get project started with a plan.
The Plan…
- Step One: Agree on a multi-phased plan with input from different groups that get involved (always in progress)
- Step Two: Take a week of dedicated work using both MG and Landfill workers to “create” the layout of the plan (done)
- Step Three: Develop a phased approach to this project, to include the “hardscaping”, the mulched areas, the walkways, the plantings. (in progress)
- Step Four: Solicit interested agency’s: Cooperate Sponsors, Schools, community service organizations, etc… for support/workshops/work.
Project Site at the Perdido Landfill in the
Citizens Convenience Center...................... Laying the dry creekbed.
Installing terrace planter or tires......................Ian Rehrig, UWF student and friends help
depending on how you look at it..................... lay foundation for surrounding walls.
Terraced stone spillway for stormwater.........Boy Scout Troop 400
Using tires as planters. Using old bricks and
cement forms for decoration...............................Planters and benches are built from broken concrete.
At the end of the day, Troop 400 got a lot done!
Items that Can Be Recycled and Used in Your Flower Garden
Growing flowers can be a very rewarding hobby. Enjoying the fruit of your labor when the flowers have bloomed is relaxing and can be shared with others. Here are some alternative containers in which you can grow 
flowers.
Some of the easiest recycled items to use for flowerpots are old cans. The bigger cans make better planters. Cans that once held paint, juice, coffee, or the larger vegetable cans are perfect. To decorate them, just take the label off and paint designs on the sides. Be sure to punch some holes for drainage in the bottom.
Everyone has seen the barrels cut in half to use for flowers. But, how about old enamelware, or waste cans, or caste iron cookware? These items can be used with minimal preparation. Only the plastic or metal waste cans would need to be painted.
Antique items that are not in good enough condition to have inside your home also make lovely flower containers. Milk cans, wheelbarrows, or tea pots would make a lovely addition to the outdoor décor. Antique watering cans or troughs can also be used for flowerbeds. Mail boxes no longer used for receiving mail are wonderful as flower containers.
A unique idea for small flowerpots is to use old toys. The metal dump trucks, especially, make unique containers. Toy wagons that are no longer played with are also possible containers.
If you have a large area you would like to use for flowers, consider placing an old bed frame, complete with head and footboards, around the bed. This will give you a real "flower bed". Antique bathtubs can also be used for a larger area.
Even the old standby of an old tire can be used for flowerbeds. Use several and make them into an attractive arrangement in your yard. They can be used as is, or turned inside out and cut into many shapes.
Planting flowers in baskets is very attractive. The baskets that potted plants come in from the florist make wonderful outdoor planters. And, older baskets that are not longer useful in the household can be painted and filled with flowers. Wooden crates are similar to baskets and can also be painted and used for planters.
There are so many ways to liven up ordinary flower plantings in your yard. Anything that can hold dirt can have flowers planted in that dirt. Use your imagination and your yard will become the talk of the town. 
