Save your soil and recycle cans at the same time

I have seen this idea now in a few gardening magazines and recycling books, and have finally decided to put the genius to work. With larger pots, filling the entire thing with soil can not only become costly, but the pot can become to heavy to move. You can fill the bottom with crushed aluminum soda cans instead to decrease the weight and save some soil while still allowing good drainage.

Cans make a good liner

I've decided to try this with a 36" high pot that I'll be planting a raspberry bush inside. I used about 1/3 cans. Since we don't drink soda or any canned drink we asked our neighbors and friends to contribute to our stash. Even if you had to offer up the recycling value of $.05 a can you'd still save money over organic soil. I know they will provide good drainage and I'll have to do my own test to make sure that they don't inhibit root growth, but I doubt they will.