Make plant ties out of an old T-shirt by starting at the bottom and cutting it in a continuous spiral, ending at the armholes.
Photo/Illustration: Mike Wanke
My favorite “twine” for tying up garden plants is made from worn-out cotton T-shirts. I like it because its stretchiness makes it easy to use and easy on plants. It can be made as wide as needed and is made of recycled material. And if the shirt is 100 percent cotton, it can go into the compost bin in the fall.
A man’s large T-shirt will make a strip about 1-1/2 inches wide and 15 to 20 yards long. To make strips, I start at the bottom edge of a T-shirt and cut around it in a continuous spiral. I never bother to measure. I vary the width according to need, but 1-1/2 inches seems to be a good, all-purpose width. The knit curls a bit, so it ends up a little narrower. The continuous piece ends at the armholes, but cutting straight across from the edge of one sleeve to the other makes additional useful pieces.
The shirts I use for this purpose are often white, and the strips may be too bright and noticeable for some gardeners. If that is a problem, I have found that laying the strips on the ground when it rains or while watering turns them a gray-brown that blends in nicely with the surrounding garden.
