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:

1. They’re lightweight, making them ideal for courtyards, balconies and rooftop gardens.
2. They insulate soil, reducing temperature swings and protecting plant roots.
3. They’re modular and movable, so layouts can change as the seasons do and they can be moved from property to property.
4. 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:

1. 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.
2. Be aware that Styrofoam veggie boxes come in a few different sizes and heights.
3. If placing the boxes on concrete or paving, improve drainage by lifting boxes off the ground with timber planks or a metal frame.
4. Always lift boxes from underneath; picking them up by the sides or corners can cause cracking and breakage.
5. 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

1. @pias.styrofoam.garden

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