Garden wall made of old washing machines etc

. One hopes this will never become a really popular idea – but one has to admit that it is pretty well done here! It is also a sustainable design, because it is surely a far better use of old washing machines than dumping them in landfill sites.

Green roof made with sawn branches

Here is a really easy way to make a green roof: keep your old branches, arrange them on a frame and place turfs on top. This idea works particularly well if you have a coppice tree in your garden – which is both a traditional and a beautiful idea, as Monet and Van Gogh showed in their paintings.

How to make a garden fence out of old logs

Here is a good, cheap and sustainable way to make a feature and a divider for gardens: keep your old logs and place them, artistically, in a line. They are great for conservation – the wild life advisory bodies are always telling us to let old timber rot. The dead wood creates ideal living space for insects – and birds love eating insects.

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There are lots of short cuts in the design and construction of green roofs but if you want a 100% professional approach to making a roof which is more water-proof and better-insulated than a normal roof, then you can do a lot worse than use the methods shown on this interview with the manager of the green roof on the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. For good measure, the planting is of native plants. This shows how to make a real habitat and this is much better for wildlife than a nutrient-free sedum roof established on lightweight aggregate.