Growing Abundance in Boxes: Pia’s Styrofoam Garden
Tucked into a small courtyard at the back of her Thornbury townhouse, Pia Lefevre’s garden proves that you don’t need perfect conditions to grow food and flowers. With about 50 repurposed Styrofoam broccoli boxes, a lot of experimentation and a strong commitment to reuse, Pia’s garden is a standout example of sustainable gardening in action.
Pia lives here with her partner and their two dogs, Billie and Taz. Her courtyard is north-facing, but surrounded by a two-storey unit block, a neighbouring house and a tall fence. In other words: light is limited – especially in winter – space is tight, and conventional gardening advice doesn’t always apply. Instead of seeing these constraints as deal-breakers, Pia has used her commitment to sustainability and creative problem-solving to create a colourful, productive space.
How the Garden Is Set Up
Pia’s garden is made up of repurposed Styrofoam boxes, milk crates to raise the boxes to capture more sunlight, clothes hangers used as trellises for vertical growing, and colourful furniture to create a small sitting area. Pia’s love of colour is evident everywhere, and she has used mistint paint (the rejected colours found in hardware shop bargain bins) to decorate the Styrofoam boxes, a move that also protects the material from UV light.
The components used to make the garden give Pia flexibility to change the configuration of her garden seasonally, and the entire setup is transportable, making it perfect for a rental property.
“My garden is like a Lego garden that evolves with my mood, my seasonal needs and, most importantly, the sun.” - Pia Lefevre
Most of the boxes Pia grows in are standard broccoli crates with drainage holes punched into the base. After noticing soil gradually washing out, she added a single layer of netting cut from fruit bags to the bottom of each box. It’s a simple fix that’s made a big difference.
The standard potting mix in the boxes is refreshed annually using a blend of cow manure, chicken manure and compost, then topped with pine mulch to protect the surface and retain moisture.
Always experimenting, Pia has also converted two boxes into wicking beds. These have no drainage holes, a base layer of scoria, and a sheet of upcycled coffee hessian separating the scoria from the soil. An overflow hole near the top of the scoria layer prevents waterlogging. The result? Excellent moisture retention and happy tomato plants, even during warmer periods. That said, the time and cost involved mean Pia hasn’t rolled this system out across the whole garden.
The garden looks its best from late spring through early summer, and generally keeps going from spring to autumn. Winter is the toughest season: the shaded boxes receive less light and, understandably, less attention. Even so, the garden bounces back each year.
Why Styrofoam?
Styrofoam, or expanded polystryene, is often (rightly) criticised for its environmental impact, particularly when it breaks into fragments that end up in waterways. A waste survey by the Yarra River Keeper, for example, identified Styrofoam as the largest source of non-organic litter in the Yarra River. So why use it in a garden?
When kept intact, repurposed Styrofoam boxes offer a double environmental win: they divert waste from landfill and reduce the need to buy new plastic pots or containers. The boxes Pia uses are food-grade polystyrene originally used to transport vegetables, meaning they’re designed to safely come into contact with food and don’t contain the chemicals found in some other Styrofoam products such as building insulation.
For small spaces like Pia’s courtyard, Styrofoam boxes offer some surprising advantages:
- They’re lightweight, making them ideal for courtyards, balconies and rooftop gardens.
- They insulate soil, reducing temperature swings and protecting plant roots.
- They’re modular and movable, so layouts can change as the seasons do and they can be moved from property to property.
- They’re often available for free, making gardening more accessible.
Styrofoam can be recycled, but rarely through kerbside collections. Many councils offer Styrofoam recycling at their waste transfer facilities. Reusing boxes in the garden extends their life and delays disposal. Painting them can help too, as it protects the surface from UV degradation.
Is Styrofoam Safe for Growing Food?
This is an important question. The short answer is yes, so long as the boxes used are ‘food grade’.
Vegetable transport boxes are considered food-safe and are different from PVC and styrene-based plastics, which can leach contaminants into soil. Concerns about chemicals leaching from Styrofoam generally relate to takeaway containers that are heated (for example, in a microwave) and then come into contact with food.
Tips for Using Styrofoam Boxes in Your Garden
If you’re inspired to try this approach yourself, keep these tips in mind:
- Make sure your Styrofoam boxes have drainage holes, as some veggie boxes don’t. If they don’t, you’ll need to make 6 to 8 small holes in the boxes using a sharp knife.
- Be aware that Styrofoam veggie boxes come in a few different sizes and heights.
- If placing the boxes on concrete or paving, improve drainage by lifting boxes off the ground with timber planks or a metal frame.
- Always lift boxes from underneath; picking them up by the sides or corners can cause cracking and breakage.
- Use a quality potting mix; garden soil is usually too heavy and won’t drain well.
Pia’s styrofoam garden isn’t about perfection. It’s about making thoughtful, realistic choices in a world where waste already exists, experimentation and enjoying the process, and showing what’s possible when sustainability meets creativity.
You can follow Pia’s experiments, harvests and honest reflections on Instagram at @pias.styrofoam.garden. You can also see Pia’s ‘Dopamine’ garden design in the Avenue of Achievable Gardens at the 2026 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
References
2. Yarra River Keeper Polystyrene Report https://yarrariver.org.au/projects/polystyrene-report/
3. Alistair Kirkpatrick SGA Soil Contamination Masterclass 2025
4. Jerry Coleby-Williams ‘FAQ: Can I Grow Plants in Polystyrene (Styrofoam) boxes?’ https://jerry-coleby-williams.net/2020/07/20/reuse-polystyrene-vegetable-packing-boxes-in-the-garden/
5. Turn a Styrofoam box from the Grocers into a self-watering planter pot (ABC NEWS 7 Mar 2020): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-07/how-to-make-a-self-watering-planter-box/11966566
Book Review: Futureproof Your Garden
Angus Stewart is well known as a former presenter on ABC's Gardening Australia, and in Futureproof Your Garden he’s joined by his horticulturalist daughter Emma Stewart to deliver a practical guide to gardening in a changing climate. This book is about preparing your garden for a future where water – not enough of it for extended periods, but sometimes too much all at once – will increasingly dictate growing conditions for Australian gardeners.
Water flows thematically through every chapter of the book, and its central message can’t be ignored: don’t take water for granted. The book explains in simple terms why water is essential to all plant and animal life, and encourages gardeners to rethink how they use, store and value water in their landscapes.
One of the things I most liked about the book is how the authors make a clear distinction between the needs of different types of gardens. For productive gardens, water is non-negotiable—vegetables, herbs, and fruiting plants need consistent access to moisture to thrive. The emphasis when growing food is on storing rainfall water and using it as efficiently as possible.
For ornamental gardens, the key is plant selection: choosing tough, water-wise Australian natives or plants adapted to dry climates, such as those from South Africa or the Mediterranean. The extensive photographic plant directory at the end of the book is a standout feature, offering detailed, accessible information on a selection of native plants, as well as information on how to plant and care for them.
One of the book’s strengths is its practical approach featuring DIY projects or Australian products. There are photos and descriptions of Waterups wicking beds, Vegepod raised gardens, the Airgarden hydroponic system, Vegebag grow bags, ollas, water spikes, self-watering pots and moisture meters. DIY enthusiasts will appreciate the instructions for making wicking beds and biochar, with straightforward explanations and tips.
This approach to sustainability is refreshingly non-prescriptive. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, the authors present a menu of options so readers can tailor strategies to their own gardens and budgets. For example, the chapter on water storage focuses on tanks but also includes dams and bore water for larger properties and using grey water. The chapter on watering covers watering by hand, drip and spray irrigation systems, ollas and water spikes, and wicking beds.
I took away several key actions from the book to implement over time in my own garden:
- Increase my capacity to harvest and store rainwater to reduce my reliance on mains water and provide security during droughts.
- Learn efficient watering techniques so I can use enough to support my plants’ growth but not so much that water is wasted.
- Continue to care for my soil to improve its structure so it will hold water more effectively.
- Design my garden to slow, sink, and store rainfall with the goal of preventing precious water from being lost to the stormwater system.
In terms of climate resilience, the book could have focused more on urban heat and the broader role of green spaces in cooling cities. But it’s likely that most gardeners would trade this omission in favour of the expert information on native plants, which is not found in other books.
Futureproof Your Garden is an excellent reference for gardeners beginning to think seriously about climate adaptation. It’s informative without being overwhelming, focused on solutions, and grounded in the reality of gardening in a hotter, drier world.
Title: Futureproof Your Garden: Environmentally sustainable ways to grow more with less
Authors: Angus and Emma Stewart
Publisher: Murdoch Books 2022
ISBN: 9781922351302
A Personal Path to Seed Saving
I was a gardener for well over a decade before I started seed saving from plants in my garden. At first, I didn’t see the need. There always seemed to be so many varieties of veggie and flower seeds to buy that I didn’t think I’d ever run out of new ones to try. And to be honest, the seed tin I keep in our hall cupboard was overflowing with packets – a haphazard combination of planned purchases and impulse buys – that I could easily plan out several years’ worth of seasonal crops using just the seeds I already had.
But working on the sidelines of the seed industry gave me something of a wake-up call. While Australia has some fabulous local seed producers, there simply aren’t enough of them producing the variety and quality of seeds at scale to meet even our small domestic market.1 Australia has an annual trade deficit of approximately AUD$80 million for vegetable seeds. Most of our flower seeds are also imported.2 A lack of country-of-origin labelling means it’s hard to know where the seeds we buy were grown.
Many imported seeds come from developing countries where reliable information about working conditions and chemical use is hard to find. Though all major suppliers have anti-slavery statements, some questions remain.3 Additionally, seed treatments like fungicide coatings are common and their ingredients are often hidden behind patents. With climate change potentially disrupting supply chains, learning to save seeds became more pressing.
The Importance of Seed Saving
Seed saving is often overlooked by gardeners. Maybe that’s because gardening instructions assume you’ve purchased seed. Or maybe it’s because seed saving is seen as a difficult skill that only experienced gardeners can master. Either way, saving seeds isn’t that hard to learn, and it completes a virtuous cycle in your garden and perhaps your community.
The production of seeds is an essential part of a plants’ lifecycle, and learning to save those seeds has some powerful benefits. Saving your own seeds helps to maintain plant diversity, preserve heirloom varieties, reduce the costs of gardening and growing food, and makes a contribution to sustainability by reducing transport and packaging emissions. Maybe more importantly, on a personal level seed saving is hugely rewarding.
In my own garden, the plants grown from saved seeds are the ones I put the most thought into. For instance, a variety of climbing beans I’m growing this summer was brought to Australia by an Italian immigrant in 1963 and has been passed down through generations of Melbourne gardeners. I love that my garden is connected to that history. I gave a lot of thought to where and when I would plant those seeds, and the vigorous plants that grew from them are a source of joy and promise. I’m excited to not only keep some of these seeds to plant next season, but also to share them through a local seed library.
While saving seeds can be as simple or complex as you want to make it, there are a few things that can help to make the process a success. Here are five things I’ve learnt on my path to seed saving:
1. Generic is Sometimes OK
While it’s important to prevent cross-pollination between varieties—especially for specific cultivars (‘Queensland Blue’ pumpkins or ‘Cupcake White’ cosmos)—not every plant requires such attention. Many herbs, like dill, fennel and coriander, don’t have named varieties, so you can save their seeds without worrying about cross-pollination.
2. Choose Healthy Parent Plants
To grow healthy plants from your saved seeds, start with healthy, vigorous parent plants. Don’t just look at the plants; also taste the fruit. There’s no point in saving seeds from plants that produce bitter or bland fruit. Saving seeds from more than one plant - three to 10 is a good rule of thumb – will improve the genetic resilience of your saved seeds. It’s tempting to wait until the end of the season to select parent plants, but early croppers are often a better choice. Just harvest what you need from each plant, leaving a couple of fruit or seed pods to mature for seed saving.
3. Don’t Harvest Too Much
It’s easy to get carried away when harvesting seeds, but remember that many plants produce seeds abundantly. For instance, a single tomato can contain up to 300 seeds, and one sunflower head can produce 500 to 1,000 seeds. Compare this to the number of seeds in a typical seed packet, which may only contain 20 to 50 seeds. Unless you’re planning to sell seeds, you don’t need to harvest many fruits or flowers.
4. Dry Seeds Thoroughly
One of the most important steps in seed saving is drying the seeds properly. If you skip this step, your seeds could become mouldy in storage. After harvesting, make sure to let your seeds dry completely. You can perform a simple test to check their dryness: gently squeeze the seeds with your fingernail (they shouldn't dent too much) or place them in a sealed glass jar overnight to make sure condensation does not form. If they’re still soft, give them more time to dry. Storing seeds with a silica pouch or some rice is good insurance against mould.
5. Labelling is Everything
This is a lesson I learned the hard way. Keeping track of the variety and harvest date of seeds is needed when it comes to planting them. I use reusable plastic labels for each variety. The label stays with the seed throughout planting, harvest and drying, and eventually ends up on or in the seed envelope. On the envelope, I include not just the variety and harvest date, but also a brief plant description, like ‘climbing green bean (needs 2m trellis)’ or ‘bush borlotti bean for drying.’ This information is useful when it comes to planting the seeds next season and will be appreciated by the future grower if your seeds are destined for a seed library or swap.
Seed saving is a simple yet powerful way to take control of your garden’s future. With a little planning, you can close the loop for at least some of the flowers and vegetables you grow.
References
- Barry, K. Why Australia Imports So Many Veggie Seeds. University of Tasmania, 2018.
- International Seed Federation. Seed Statistics. 2020.
- Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. Soiled seeds: child labour and underpayment or women in vegetable seed production in India. 2015.