A Wastebasket For Weeds

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - You go outside to sit down and relax or have a barbeque or something, and suddenly, you see a weed that needs pulling or a plant that should be pinched back. Next thing you know you have a bunch of weeds or plant parts in one hand and your drink in the other - so what do you do?

Well, if you drop the weeds on the ground because you don't feel like going inside to get a bag, many weeds, including pesky purslane, can create seeds after you pull them! Lying there dying, they'll use their last ounce of strength to turn their flowers into seed pods that will make more weeds in your garden for years to come.

So, why not keep a pretty plant pot handy to use as a garden wastebasket?

Make sure there's a hole in the bottom of your empty pot (so it doesn't collect rain and become a mosquito magnet), and just let it sit there looking lovely until you find yourself with a handful of weeds or dead flowerheads and you'll have a place to put them. Then, instead of looking messy and spreading seeds, your weeds can wither inside your pretty pot until the next time you're out gardening when you can easily empty those weed wastebaskets into a yard bag or carry them to the compost pile.