I wanted to put in a lovely garden around my front porch but the ground around it is so hard that I was unable to dig it up enough to plant anything. So I came up with the idea of spreading mulch and setting flowers and herbs planted in various containers around the area to make if feel like a garden. I love taking items that might otherwise be tossed out and creating new purposes for them, so I thought why cant that extend outdoors right into my garden space? I gathered up random items that were bound for the trash pile and made them work for my eclectic garden.
5 Unique Upcycled Planters For Your Garden
Cinder Block Planter – First off I have substitute UPS and USPS drivers who complain about the lack of house numbers on my house. So when I found this poor lowly abandoned cinder block I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, a couple coats of spray paint, and numbers drawn on with some extra paint in the garage, soil and pansies tucked into the two holes and voila! House numbers in plain view, and a pretty container no less!
Tonka Truck Planter – Now this rusted Tonka truck I have been eyeballing for awhile but I needed to wait until the boy was done playing with it. So once it sat in the same spot in the yard for months I knew it was mine. I drilled a couple of drainage holes in the back, filled it with soil and planted more pansies- I am on a bit of a pansy kick right now. I love how it looks in the garden, one of the things I wanted most for this area was for it to be kid friendly. The kids get to play, hide, and grow their own flowers here, and their fairy garden is the centerpiece insert fairy garden link. So this playful truck planter fit right into our outdoor décor.
Planter Made from Rain Boots– too small to fit growing feet and too faded and beat up to hand down to little sister ( who insisted on pink, sparkly, princess boots). But they made an adorable welcoming addition next to the steps with pink petunias peeking out. I sprayed them with about 3 coats of inexpensive white spray paint to make them more neutral and freshen them up. The soles were a too thick to try and drill drainage holes so I threw in a couple handfuls of rocks to keep the roots from being over wet, then soil and finally the flowers.
Mason jars are always a charming container for anything, while they don’t provide any drainage, if you fill them with soil they are a great temporary holder for cuttings and seedlings. You just have to watch the soil and make sure you don’t over water them.
Oil Can Planter – Treasures can even be rescued from the scrap metal pile! Can you believe my father in law was going to send this off with the scrap metal? This old oil/gas can looked like a watering can so it cried out to be made into a planter. I scrubbed it several times to remove old residue and buildup, drilled a few holes in the bottom, but left it weathered just as it was.
I haven’t done anything with this old wagon yet but I see a little herb garden in the making, don’t you? A couple of drainage holes in the bottom will make this a great portable container.
A little creativity and you can turn your trash into treasures! Even a plastic 5 gallon bucket can be spray painted and turned into a pretty container for tomatoes. Empty paint cans, tea cups , teapots, enamelware, claw foot tubs, and even old aquariums can be turned into amazing planters for fruits, veggies, herbs, or flowers. Have you used something unusual for a planter? Share it with us!
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