How to Make Newspaper Seed Pots

When we moved into our house 3 years ago we were delighted to have an absolutely huge garden. We instantly made big plans for what we wanted to do with it. After doing a full house renovation and clearing all the overgrown mess and rubbish out of the garden, we kind of left it at that and still haven’t done a lot with it. This year I decided it was time to get to work and while Rob had been doing the manual stuff I’ve been planning flower beds and picking up seeds that will eventually be beautiful flowers adorning our garden.

Before the seeds can be planted outdoors I’ve been growing them inside and to save money and plastic I made my own little seed pots from newspaper to grow them in. The advantage of these little pots is that they can be planted straight into the ground when the seedlings are ready and will biodegrade naturally. I thought I’d show you how I make them. For those of you who like me, aren’t green figured at all this is the perfect way to get started on a little gardening whether your growing flowers or creating a little vegetable patch.

You will need: Newspaper, scissors, garden twine, an aerosol can, a seed tray, plant labels or lolly sticks, compost, seeds

Step One: Take a sheet from the middle of your newspaper and divide into four pieces. Fold each piece in half.

Step Two: Wrap your folded newspaper round the aerosol can, leaving a gap at the bottom.

Step Three: Push the loose ends down, they should stay in place.

Step Four: Tie a piece of garden twine round the newspaper and slide it off the can.

Step Five: Fill your pot with compost and add your seeds according to the instructions on the packet.

Step Six: Add a label or lolly stick so you know what you have planted in the pot.

Step Seven: Place your newspaper seed pots into your seed tray. For best results place a propagator lid over the pots or cover with polythene and leave in a warm sunny place. Water them regularly and within a couple or weeks your seedlings should appear. Once they are big enough you can pop the whole thing into the ground and enjoy your beautiful plants.

I got everything I needed for the project from the wonderful new National Trust garden centre at Morden Hall Park. the lovely wooden seed tray was only £4.00 for a set containing one large and two small trays which I thought was fantatstic and a great alternative to plastic ones.

If all goes well I’ll be updating you on the progress of both my seeds and garden in a few weeks. Have any of you done any gardening recently?