'Seed spirals' are the savvy way to sow seeds when you're tight on space

With spring well and truly on its way, there's much to be done in the garden and sowing seeds is top of the list. However, if you're low on indoor space and your seedling trays are taking over, this seed spiral trick is well worth your time.

This seed spiral trick is not only a fantastic sustainable garden idea, but also ideal for those looking for savvy small garden tips. There are many ways you can reuse garden waste in your garden to not only simplify tasks but lead to more successful growth in your plants.

Aside from the yearly garden trends, these helpful hacks are the best things you can try for yourself in your garden. So much so you won't know how you lived without them when you see their effectiveness.

Expert's deed spiral trick for successful seedlings

This latest sustainable garden hack comes from garden design expert and influencer Ish on TikTok @Gardening.with.ish. As well as explaining how to use cardboard in your garden, Ish demonstrates how you can reuse a padded envelope to house your seed starters.

"Now when I’m ordering samples or having things sent to me, I always end up getting these padded envelopes and I thought about what I can use these for and it turns out I’ve seen quite a few people try to make something known as a seed snail. I think this is perfect for it," he explains.

Seed spirals, also known as seed snails, are a fantastic way of saving space when planting your seeds indoors. They can be made of cardboard, newspaper and even bubble wrap. Ish preps his padded envelope by cutting it open and into one long strip, with the bubble wrap facing upwards.

He says, "All I’m going to do is layer in some compost, I’ve got a pretty good multi-purpose compost here which should pretty well. It will retain the moisture but still have good drainage, which is ideal when you’re planting new seeds."

"With a thin layer of compost now on top of the bubble wrap layer, I’m just going to slowly roll this up and don’t worry if it expands out the sides, it makes life a little bit easier for us," continues Ish.

Once it's rolled up you'll be able to see the individual pockets within the spiral where you will place your seeds. Ish does point out that you'll need to secure the roll with either tape or a rubberband, or by placing it in a correctly sized old plastic pot.

"To start my seed snail I’m going to be using a packet of sweet peas and they don’t need to be planted very deep only about 1cm. So I’m going to use a pen just to lightly make a few holes every kind of 5cm along the spiral and that’s where I’ll chuck my seeds in," continues Ish.

Even if you know how to grow sweet peas this is a fantastic way of starting them. Ish also recommends soaking your sweet pea seeds in water for 24 hours to soften their shell, this will help them germinate quicker.

He says, "All I’m going to do is push these into the indents I’ve made in the soil and then I’ll give it a little bit of a cover, then that’s all we need to do with it."

Once you've covered your seeds with a sprinkling of compost, your homemade compost or reusing old compost from pots would be ideal here, Ish recommends giving the spiral a light watering all around.

"The good thing about having the bubble wrap layer all around is that it works as an insulating layer and a waterproof layer which means it won’t rot away in the next few weeks," he adds.

You can keep the seed spirals indoors for up to 2-3 weeks until the seedlings have grown tall and you've already given them their first pinch. Then it'll be time to put them outdoors in your greenhouse or somewhere sheltered until you're ready to plant them out in May.

You can even use this method for veggies if you're a vegetable gardener, and of course for other flower species. There's really no limit.

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If you'd rather not use plastic in your garden, you can also use eggshells in your garden as seed starters. Simply fill the empty eggshell with soil and pop a seed in as you usually would with a tray.