Wine Corks as Soil?

Here's a nifty little trick I just picked up from this month's Urban Farm magazine:

Place your leftover wine corks in your houseplant pots, all along the surface (you can just throw them in, or you can arrange them in a pattern, if you are so inclined).

Frank Hyman (a gardener/Urban Farm columnist) claims that it cut down on his housplant watering by half.

"Cork is hydrophobic, meaning it doesn't absorb water and decomposes slowly."

Of course, you have to pack them in tightly so they won't float when you water (if you care at all about the design).

The cork acts as a long-lasting mulch for the houseplant.

What a cool use for a cork! (Beats a trivet any day.)

Head over to Frank Hyman's website or his blog (which I think is more interesting) for more cool, green gardening tips.