My passion for tennis is almost as strong as the passion I have for gardening. When not outside in our garden, my wife and I enjoy time on the tennis court. We found that over time we were left with a large supply of used tennis balls. Rather than condemn them to the landfill, I realized that they could be put to much better use recycled as filler in the bottom of large pots.

I place one or two layers of tennis balls in the bottom of a pot (left), cover them with landscape cloth or several sheets of newspaper, and then fill with potting mix. The pots are a lot lighter to move about the garden, I save on soil, and my annuals have decent drainage. As we ran through our supply of tennis balls, the local tennis pro was glad to keep us supplied with all we could use. I have now gone through several seasons using this method, and the tennis balls have held up well.

It’s time to start collecting tennis balls again, as there are several dozen pots to fill with new annuals to welcome in the spring. I’ll call the pro.