A gardening expert has revealed three ways you can use empty toilet rolls in your garden and it’s likely you’ve been throwing them away without knowingMia O’Hare Senior Spare Time Journalist and Vita Molyneux Travel reporter
02:28, 15 May 2026
Empty toilet rolls have many uses(Image: Israel Sebastian via Getty Images)
Gardeners have been advised to retain one everyday household item this spring. With the weather beginning to improve, numerous households are turning their attention to their gardens.
It’s the perfect opportunity to venture outdoors and spruce up spaces in preparation for the summer months. If you’re looking to enhance your own garden, you might want to reconsider before discarding one everyday item.
Gardening expert Ish, who posts advice and guidance on TikTok, insists you should never discard cardboard toilet rolls as they serve a valuable purpose in gardens.
While it may appear to be an unexpected item to incorporate into your outdoor area, it could prove remarkably beneficial. In a video on his @gardening.with.ish account, Ish outlined three methods for utilising the modest loo roll.
Don’t throw out your toilet rolls(Image: Kinga Krzeminska/Getty)
Initially, he demonstrated how they can function as seedling pots. Due to toilet rolls being constructed from thin cardboard, Ish described them as “fantastic” since they will naturally decompose over the coming months.
The toilet rolls can be placed in a large pot or directly in the ground to safeguard seedlings, reports the Mirror.
Ish added: “Now, if you’re trying to start to make your own compost, these work absolutely fantastic too. Simply just chuck the tubes in, and pile that down with layers of organic material.
They can be used throughout the garden(Image: t sableaux/Getty)
“The worms absolutely love this stuff – it will break away and give you some pretty good compost.
“Cut up one of these tubes, and lay it flat on the ground, and all of a sudden you’ve got yourself a really good weed membrane and that, over the next few months, will slowly break down.
“But, while it’s been doing that, it’s protecting your plants from any weeds growing up,” Ish said. “You can also plant this underneath your plant beds, and that will also protect anything from growing through.”
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With warmer days on the horizon, there remains a slight nip in the air. Toilet rolls can even serve as an insulating layer to shield plants from the cold.
Ish said: “It seems there’s not really any end of possibilities when it comes to things like cardboard tubes, and I’m sure I’ve missed some.”
His video has been inundated with comments from fellow gardeners who have shared their own advice on how to put toilet rolls to good use in the garden.
One wrote: “I fill them with kitchen waste (veg, fruit, paper, egg shells etc) then dig into the garden beds when full.”
Another contributed: “I grow sweet peas in them as they like as long root run, magic.” While a further commenter noted: “I sow runner beans and peas in them as they don’t like root when planting out.”
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