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DIY projects have the potential to really transform your outdoor spaces. If you choose to work with alternative materials, your projects can bring a peaceful feeling to your backyard and garden. 

Whether or not you consider yourself to be a handy person, there’s a DIY project out there that you can do. Here are some ideas for your outdoor projects that are adaptable to any skill level and use of eco-friendly materials.

Hanging Planters

Hanging planters are great because you can use them in almost any space in your home. They’re also a solution for once the weather changes if you can’t stand to see your favorite plants die outdoors.

There are many options for sustainable materials if you’re making your own planters. Bamboo is super light and flexible, but still strong enough to use for many different projects. It grows quickly and in a variety of climates, so it’s an ideal alternative for many eco-friendly products.

If you can get your hands on some bamboo strips, woven bamboo makes the perfect basket for your hanging plants. After you shape your basket, loft your project with a little macrame for a more polished look, or just hang it with some twine to keep things simple.

Raised Garden Beds

Cob is a strong mixture of sand, clay and straw that’s ideal for many different types of projects. You can easily mold cob into plant pots of any size, so you’ll always have the right home for your plants on hand.

For your vegetable or herb garden, you can also use cob to make raised garden beds. Cob can be shaped into bricks for anything that needs more structure. You can use these bricks to form the exteriors of your garden bed then fill them with soil before planting whatever you’d like for your garden.

 Alternative Fencing

Most backyards feature fencing or dividers so that you can have some privacy while you enjoy being outdoors. Alternative materials give a unique look to your fences so that they can complement your outdoor decor.

Bamboo grows quickly and can be dense, so planting along the border of your property is a natural way to create some separation between you and your neighbors.

You can also use smaller walls to create some separation between different parts of your backyard, like sectioning your garden off from your patio. Cob and bamboo are both solid choices for mini-dividers.

Another sustainable material that is ideal for backyard dividers are ecobricks. Ecobricks are bottles that are stuffed with softer plastics so that the bottle becomes very strong. These can be used in most projects that would normally use bricks.

Because plastic bottles come in many colors (or, you can intentionally stuff your clear bottles with colored plastic), you can arrange these bricks so that your ecobrick wall has unique patterns and designs. 

These are just some suggestions for getting crafty to upgrade your home. Working with alternative materials is a good way to get out of your DIY comfort zone and explore some unique design choices. With the additional bonus of these materials being eco-friendly, there’s no reason not to give sustainable DIYs a try.