Come grow with me… How to repurpose a garden swing
A few years ago we brought a swing for the garden. I have enjoyed many afternoons sitting on the swing, reading, seeing the garden evolve, and watching the wildlife – one of my favourite experiences was watching the blackbirds bathing in the small man-made stream that was next to the swing.
Unfortunately, it gets very windy here and the swing was regularly being blown over. When we were moving it back into position after a spring storm, we noticed that the seating was torn and generally the swing was not looking at its best.
I love working in the garden but also make sure that I find time to relax and enjoy the garden – after all I have spent a lot of time making it into a garden that both I, and the wildlife, want to spend time in.
I had another seat in another location, so decided that the swing must go and it would be replaced with the other seat. The sound of the little stream is so relaxing that I still wanted somewhere to sit nearby.
The new seat is now in place, in a slightly different position to the old swing, where it has no chance of being impacted by the wind (unfortunately the swing would not have fitted in this particular spot).
Even though we put as much waste material as possible on the compost heap, there are always some things that are not suitable e.g., we have quite a few palm trees and the leaves would take more than 50 years to decompose, therefore, whenever the garden waste that cannot be composted grows, my husband kindly takes it to the recycling centre.
Before loading the swing into the car for the next trip to the recycling centre he asked if there was anything that I could do to repurpose it. I am so glad that he did as we came up with a few ideas, and we decided to proceed with two of them. I must mention that neither of us are DIY experts but we are happy to give simple tasks a try.
How to repurpose a garden swing frame as a mini greenhouse.
During the colder weather I covered it with a clear tarpaulin which is being held down by the frame, some old paving slabs and bricks. It was as easy as that.
My plan is to use my makeshift mini greenhouse in different ways throughout the year :
- At the beginning of the year I can use it as a greenhouse in which I can sow seeds in pots and seed trays, whilst protecting them from the inclement weather.
- From the end of spring, I can use the frame to support tomato plants (see below). The tarpaulin will be removed and replaced with netting so that the birds don’t eat all of the tasty fruit. Don’t worry, there is plenty of other food for the birds in the garden.
- Over winter, I can put the tarpaulin back on and use it to store tender plants during the colder months, to protect them from frost.
I think that this was a great way to repurpose the swing frame and it has so many versatile uses – I may even think of more as time goes on.
How to repurpose a garden swing canopy as a seed bed
Having successfully repurposed the swing frame, I was left with the swing canopy. A perfect opportunity to create a seed bed.
I normally use pots and seed trays to grow seeds, but the swing canopy is quite big and will enable me to sow many seeds in a smaller amount of space than I could with pots and trays.
1. Buy some lengths of wood and attach these to the swing canopy to act as a frame. Let the wood overlap at the ends as this will make useful handles so that the seedbed can be easily moved.
2. Add some holes to the bottom of the seedbed for drainage.
3. Add compost soil and cover with gardening fleece. My seedbed was created in spring when it was still cold therefore I was able to use the tarpaulin to warm the soil before planting any seeds.
4. Sow seeds, water and wait for them to grow.
I was looking for inspiration for which seeds to plant in my new seedbed and could use this to start off plants that will then be transplanted into pots or the ground. I have decided to use it to grow shallow rooted salad leaves instead and cannot wait for a delicious harvest.
I hope that you have enjoyed these overviews and have been inspired to repurpose your own garden furniture rather than just throwing it away.
Look out for other garden tips and tricks.