I recently read somewhere that you could till scraps of cotton fabric into your garden to amend the soil. Has anyone done this? What about 100% cotton batting? I have a bunch of scraps that are too small to use and was thinking about doing this. It sure would be pretty! This would be a flower garden not vegetable garden. Maybe if I plant the scraps, I'll grow a wildflower quilt!

I have never heard that and am curious too :lol:

Never heard of that but cotton is vegetable material so in theory it might work. I would not be inclined to put it straight into the ground though- do you have a composting area? Usually things degrade better if there is a good mix of "green" and "brown" (woody, which would include cotton I suppose).

Another thought- if the cotton is treated it may resist the microbes in the soil.

Let us know how you get on!

I've not done or heard of that; but I love throwing my tiniest of scraps (thin, thin strips) and my thread scraps from embroidery out in the front yard for the birds. I have bushes around the side of my house and they nest in there in the summer and I can see my threads interwoven in their nests.

Yes, i have a compost pile. I can put some in there and some directly into the garden and see what happens. right now, we still have about 5" of snow ;-(

interesting concept. i think i'll put my tiny scraps in a container and try.

I know my husband takes my small bits & threads for the compost bin.

I was on google for awhile before making the original post. i kept trying to search on till + cotton fabric, garden + cotton fabric etc. but had a brain burp and didn't try looking under compost. I just did and cotton fabric is one of the items listed under many sites as being good to add to your compost pile, so looks like another use for all those crumbs too small to quilt with.

The birds love small strips! We once had a robin's nest that had a lovely yellow piece of nylon rope holding it together. Cotton would be much more eco friendly.

This is a great idea!!! I have been throwing my small scraps out and tons of string/thread pieces. I have lots of woods behind me and tons of birds. I could put them out and noone would see them...I will give it a try.