Simon Akeroyd shared the creative tip in a viral TikTok video showing how to repurpose used tea bags
Amber O’Connor Money and Lifestyle reporter U35s
15:18, 02 Mar 2026
The gardener told people to save tea bags (stock photo)(Image: Getty)
People could transform their tea bags into ‘beautiful’ decorations with a gardener’s tip. Simon Akeroyd, the author and gardening expert behind over 30 books, shared the suggestion in a popular TikTok video.
As an experienced head gardener and the owner of Simon Akeroyd’s Gardening Academy, Simon has garnered millions of followers across his social media platforms, including over 800k followers on TikTok. Taking to the platform under the username @Simonakeroydgardener, the expert demonstrated how to create floral bookmarks with flowers and leaves picked from the garden.
Captioning his video, Simon wrote: “Instead of throwing away your tea bags, you can make them into floral bookmarks. You can use traditional tea bags or herbal tea bags. However you need the type of teabags that are folded (usually have string attached) as you need to be able to unfold them. The round or pyramid teabags won’t work as they can’t be unfolded.
“Once you’ve opened the tea bag, rinse and dry and then cover surface with a mix of glue and water. Stick pressed flowers onto one half of the teabag and then fold over. Leave to dry. You now have a beautiful floral bookmark which you can use in your favourite gardening books.”
The idea thrilled viewers, and the video earned over 26k likes. Responding to the viral post, one fan said: “That’s so creative, thanks a lot for the idea.” A second viewer wrote: “That’s beautiful.”
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A third social media user thought: “What a lovely idea.” Another person said: “Wow! You are a garden genius. If not for the teabag, I would laminate it,” while a fan praised: “They are so pretty.”
However, this isn’t the only way gardeners can repurpose tea bags, reports the Express. In a different video, Simon said: “Most (but not all) tea bags cannot be composted.
“Which is a shame. This is because the bags themselves don’t decompose. (They contain micro plastics). However there is no need to chuck the entire tea bag into land fill.”
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He continued: “Instead, split the tea bags open and tip out the spent tea leaves. Dried tea leaves are high in tanin and it is said to help reduce slug and snail damage. (Don’t rely on this though, but it might work if combined with other techniques). They also contain some plant nutrients so can be used to improve the fertility of the soil. Dried tea leaves also make a good soil conditioner.”
Commenting under the post, a viewer named Monty asked: “Is this ok for indoor plants as well?” Simon replied: “Hi Monty, yes ideal for indoor / house plants too.”
Another social media user wrote: “Oooh good idea, thanks, we drink a lot of herbal teas, presumably they’re OK to do the same?” Simon said: “Hi Susan, yes herbal teas are good to recycle in the garden too.”
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