Straw bales bundles of gardening fun

Horticulturalists eager to improve their eco-gardening credentials could well find that they are tempted to use a more unusual type of planter this summer.

Online resource Easy Gardener explains that straw bales can provide the perfect base for a planter, which can be then be turned into compost when it is finished.

It suggests that the bale should be placed in the desired location, have the centre removed and then be lined with a material such as burlap to hold the soil in place.

Compost and soil should then be added and the chosen plant placed in the centre.

"Finally, be sure to properly water the plants in your new straw bale planter. If you follow all of these steps, you should have some great results – or at least a bundle of fun trying it out," the firm concludes.

In related news, online resource Popular Mechanics recently suggested that western red cedar makes the perfect material to create a planter out of as it will "stand up to the elements" when out in the garden.