Leave it to Malcom to make sure they didn't end up in the landfill. I agree they don't look bad but like you roselee I think I woould want to play with some color. If it was up to me the tires may have more color than the flowers inside. I will have to see if I can get my wife to go along with it. I can see it in several areas ..... mmmmm not bringing out the pick to poke a hole..... neeed to get wife to see the beauty of this concept. She does these incredible abstract wildflower paintings but her technique wouldn't work for this but we do have plenty of cool paint colors so I could volunteer to play with them on an old truck tire I already have (to show her the possibilies)...Man this is going to be cool!!!:)
Thanks for sharing another story about two of my favorite folks in the organic movement. Wished they wouldn't have sold out to the corporate folks but, they had to do what they thought was best for them and the family.
Happy Growing David

I know David, Del and Malcolm are absolutely the nicest people you'd ever want to meet and have done so much for organic gardening. I too was sorry to see them sell the business, but I guess everybody has the right to re"tire" so to speak :-) I have certainly learned a lot from them. We all have, I think, directly or indirectly. So if Malcolm does it -- it's worth a look.

By the way, tejas_pacas pointed out on a gallery reply that they are tractor or backhoe tires.

I have some friends who have done this all through their backyard, and they are absolutely gorgeous. They used regular sized tires, and the soil was heating up so much that they almost needed tropicals in them. So they painted a lot of them white to help with the soil temps. Tomatoes and peppers go bonkers in these things, and they always have cucumbers and squash way before me, probably because the soil is so warm.

Yee Haw, y'all, red-neck gardening! :)

I would never grow veggies in those. I would worry about all the petrochemicals leaching into the soil and then into my veggies. Another reason I would never use that rubber mulch stuff.

Yummy, I thought about that also, but since Malcolm Beck is one of the foremost, earliest and active preponents of organic gardening (he speaks on the subject all over the country, is a well know author, and started Gardenville) I didn't even question him on it. But I will next time I see him just to see what he says.

I don't know if he is still on the any of the garden talk show radio programs or not, but if someone here tunes in they could ask him about it.

Yeah unature, we just need a bottle tree to complete the picture :-)

You can just google it and come up with info:

http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/Brazil-Retreaded-Tyres-Submission-of-Non-Party-Humane-Society-International.pdf

"Watkins, U.S. Pat. No. 2,105,800 discloses a flexible subirrigation device utilizing a scrap rubber tire that is buried horizontally in the ground surrounding the root portion of a plant. The tread portion forms the outer periphery and the side walls form the top and bottom walls, and the bead portions which fit the rim may be positioned close together or wide apart to form an annular slot facing toward the roots of the plant. The downward facing side wall is provided with a plurality of perforations and a funnel may be connected into an aperture in the upper facing side wall for introducing water into the tire casing. The tire casing may also be filled with a water absorbent or water retention material prior to its burial.

The Watkins patent issued in 1938 and since that time much has been learned about buried tires. Most States now have regulations prohibiting burial of whole scrap tires in landfills because they tend to trap air and gases and rise to the surface. Also, studies have shown that buried tires can produce toxic chemicals that are leeched into the soil and groundwater. Watkins states that the cotton cords may rot, however, with modern day steel belted tires, the metallic elements may rust and also leech hazardous metallic solutions into the soil and groundwater. These hazardous chemicals and solutions are likely to be absorbed into the groundwater and root system of the plant. "

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9216257&dopt=Abstract

"Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, MD 21654, USA.

Tires have a deleterious effect on the environment. This review discusses the background of scrap tires discarded in the environment, including tire composition, adverse environmental effects, threats to public health and safety, and solid waste management. Despite the widespread use of scrap tires in environmental applications, both land-based and aquatic, data on the indicators of environmental degradation are extremely scarce. Indicators of environmental degradation include analysis of chemicals within the water and sediment, analysis of contaminants within organisms, and analysis of the biological effects of these compounds on plants, animals, microbes, and organelles."

Oh..and I was not dogging Mr. Beck...just not my thing. I read Mr. Becks book ages ago.It was so good! One of the 1st garden books I read. I will never forget the story about how his body changed when he went into the service and then experimented with our diet of carbs and fat on chickens...

I had visions of those tacky planters that used to live in so many front yards here. These are kinda cool though.
Tally HO!