Is Your Garden Tire-d Out?

Kicking the tires and burning rubber...you're a city dweller maintaining a raised bed garden and you planted heat-loving peppers in your spare tire. Planting in tires is a great raised bed gardening technique, according to "Farmer Fred" Hoffman, seen on HGTV's "Gardening By The Yard."

The natural heat of the tires is perfect for squash and peppers, which grow best in a warm spring season. If your rooftops tend to be chilly, the sun you do attract will be magnified. Since raised bed gardening is a way to maximize sun, you can feel free to use materials that will heat quickly.

The only drawback to this gardening technique: Tires overheat quickly and you can't install an irrigation system the way you can with a wooden or stone raised garden bed. For raised bed gardening with a radial, you need to water your plants daily, especially during hot down summer in the city. However, the small space of the tire makes even this raosed bed garden maintenance easy.

Using your leftover tires helps the environment...although the neighborhood kids won't thank you when they want to hold a tire derby.