Guerilla Gardener: Beyond Planters – Thinking Outside The Box

By August 25, 2014The Guerilla Gardener

By Brenda Dyck.
Instead of spending a lot of money on new planters, try to make do with what you have. Think wheel barrows, half barrels, toilets, large tin cans, brightly colored rubber boots, or polystyrene fishing boxes. If it holds soil you can adapt it!
Just be sure to put drainage holes in it and fertilize regularly! Adding some slow release fertilizer granules in with the soil will help keep plants healthy as well.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Got an old pair of boots?
Drill a hole in the soles of each and plant as you would any other container. Leather boots, cowboy boots, brightly colored rubber boots all make good choices.
Or if you’re looking for something a little more “lady like” a pair of high heels planted with sedum just might be the ticket!

Got an Old Chair that’s missing a seat?
Attach some chicken wire to the frame of the missing seat to form a basket. Line it with moss, fill it with potting soil and fill it with trailing annuals, like purple and white petunias, for a gorgeous and unusual display.

What about that old BBQ that you’ve been meaning to take to the dump?
Clean it up with soap and water and fill with potting mix and your favorite plants. Planting it up with a mixture of herbs, vegetable plants and flowers would be a nice choice. The vent holes in the bottom can be opened slightly to provide just the right amount of drainage.

High Chair And Baby’s Cradle
An old high chair can become a plant stand and a cradle planted in tiny pink and blue flowers to look like a baby blanket makes a very nice shower gift.

Old Iron Stove
A rusty iron stove looks wonderful planted up with assorted plants peeking out of stove lids and the front grate.

How About an Antique Wrought Iron Bed
Just place the frame’s feet firmly in the ground, add some sideboards, and make a mattress of rich soil for the ultimate flower “bed”. You can plant your flower bed with assorted ground covers to make a quilt pattern. Fill two old cloth pillow cases at the top of the bed with dirt. Slice little holes in them and plant up with trailing plants to create floral “pillows”. Rectangular window boxes filled with petunias would also work as well.

Then there are those Guerilla Gardeners that have the space for the ultimate adventure in Guerrilla Gardening. These adventurous types are the ones that want to take Guerrilla Gardening to the next level because they aren’t about to admit that they found an old car when they mowed their grass. They will use the entire remains of the car to make a huge flower garden container.

As a Guerilla Gardener, if you decide to use any of these ideas, make sure to get a bottle of wine and invite your friends over to toast your creativity in recycling unusual items to keep them out of our landfills. You deserve it!

Brenda Dyck is a Fraser Valley writer AKA a Guerrilla Gardener
Guerilla Garden Adventures
Using unconventional gardening ideas,
to get maximum results from minimal resources.
Look for more columns from Brenda in the coming weeks.
brenda@guerillagardeneronline.com

guerilla-garden-bus-card
Articles on the Guerilla Garden Adventures should never be construed as professional advice. Any resemblance to Master Gardeners, living or dead is purely coincidental.
I do not in any way condone or recommend following any of the advice or ideas contained on or linked in any article. These articles are based on my own Guerilla Garden Adventures (or that of some anonymous close friends), and have been considered by some people to be dangerous, immoral and/or down right illegal.
The only purpose of these articles is to share my Guerilla Garden Adventures, stories, disasters and triumphs with a warped sense of garden humor. Neither myself nor anyone I know will assume liability for any issues or legal proceedings arising (either real or imagined) from anyone who decides to embark upon their own Guerilla Gardener Adventure!

Leave a Reply