Repurposing the chimney

With so much remodeling and new construction replacing old, people are throwing out all kinds of amazing things. If you watch craigslist, you'll no doubt see in the "free" area listing after listing for old bricks and concrete blocks. Often the old bricks still have small chunks of mortar on them and the blocks are cracked or broken. You know how the old adage goes: one man's junk is another man's treasure.

I've taken advantage of this situation and been able to create some wonderful structures and organization in my small space. By lining my beds with borders of old brick, I've been able to add some visual interest as well as separate my ground cover from individual plants.

Where this is most useful and most evident is in my wildflower bed. I built up the soil a bit before laying the bricks in a "b" shaped pattern which gave the illusion of a slightly raised bed. Once built, I scattered wild flower seeds and let them do their thing. I told myself, I said "Self, if you see something growing outside of that patch, you know you can pull it because it's not supposed to be there" and that's just what I've done. I sound weird, but having this clear border has allowed me to keep the surrounding area weed-free without the fear of pulling something that I'd planted the prior year.

I've also been able to use the brick bordering technique to keep my ground covers under control. I've currently got some Northwestern strawberries mixed between two mysterious flowering rugs and all three groups are staying contained. It looks great how they just spill onto the brick. I can't wait to see them fill their designated areas.

The last thing that I've used the old brick for has been to edge off my small plot of lawn. Grass is one of those things in life that you can fight with and think that you're winning, but then it'll turn around and show you who's boss. I would love for the middle of my lawn to be perfect and beautiful, but the grass prefers to spread outward and be extra super green at the edge of the garden...where it then thinks that it has eminent domain. I solved that problem though and the hostile grass is now tamed. I dug a shallow, narrow ditch around the yard and laid brick in it. It has made a difficult border for the grass to cross and has had the bonus feature of keeping the soil in my garden berms from eroding into the yard. I love multi-functional design!

All in all, brick and blocks can have their place anywhere. Next time you see somebody getting rid of some, take 'em, see how they can improve your space, and keep them from being put in a landfill.