BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Container Gardening Whimsical Garden Containers

Hello everyone -

What funny, different, exotic or whimsical containers have you used in your garden or seen in other gardens?

There was a time when old boots and shoes and wellies were really a new idea - and even though not new, they are still very popular. Tyres? Old dustbins? Leaky fire buckets? Caterpak jam tins and old pickle jars? Shoe holders? Colanders? Painted plastic cooldrink bottles cut back?

I have just repurposed a wok by drilling three drainage holes and planting up a wok of Escheveria with a white pebble surround. Yes a cliché it may be, but a nice one I say.

How inventive have you been? What you got lying about that could be used to give some plants a chance of hanging about?

Let us know

Cheers now

Hi there,

At a charity second-hand store I came across some old chipped-and-charming enamel dishes of different sizes - the one is quite big, about 30 inches diameter as well as some BIG enamel mugs.

I am going to drill holes in the bottoms and grow stuff. Two I will use for cacti, the mugs I will use for colour like creeping floppy geranium or sweet peas and such and the large one I will turn into an Italian herb garden.

I am quite pleased with my find, and will get down to it starting tomorrow, wish me luck.

Cheers now

What a great idea Lestie! I live in an old farmhouse in North Carolina and have been here for 26 years. On the second floor of our house (which we rent) there is a room that our landlady has never let us use as she wished it to be for her & her family to use if they visited for the day and which they've only actually been in 3 times in 26 years. So, I begged my landlady to let me use it as a yarn shop/crochet studio. She agreed!!! Yipppeee! What a fantastic room it is!!!

As you can imagine, a lot of cleaning up had to be done. She came to collect everything she wanted to keep that was stored up there and then told me to just dispose of the rest as I saw fit. (now I'm to the relative part of the story.) When I started cleaning out, I found several vintage enamel coated containers - basins, pots & pans, etc. I got very excited over them because I hadn't seen anything like them for YEARS!!! They have to be more than 30 years old and most likely older.

You have given me the greatest idea with this post. I have been wanting to create an herb garden for a long time. The room has great northwestern afternoon lighting which would be great to grow herbs. So....I believe I am going to use the large basin and create a little herb garden for the studio. Do you think this will work? Anything I need to know about using the enamel-coated containers for such as herbs?

Thanks again for the wonderful idea. I am soooooo excited.

Hello there theangelloft ... serendipity it has to be!

I am so pleased that this idea appealed to you and just when you came across some vintage enamelware - lucky fish I say.

I have not grown anything in enamel dishes before so it's a new experience for me too BUT I will be lining my dishes etc. with at least 6 sheets of newsprint before I put in the soil. Make sure the drainage holes are clear of course. The newsprint is biodegradable and so you will need to re-pot say every two to three years or so, but you will check and do it whenever you need to.

The newsprint (plain or just newspaper printed black and white, not glossy ad paper or coloured ink printing) will act as both a protector for the roots in the cold weather as well as a root protector in the heat. As you can guess, enamel will conduct temperatures easily so you need to be careful and help your plants.

You need sunshine in your loft for herbs and all and all and keep most plants out of a sharp wind ... zephyrs and breezes are okay! If you don't have the right amount of sunshine then investigate the use of grow lights.

Write up your lucky find in your gardening journal, draw some pictures and make your notes for what you decide to grow and off you go. It might be wise to purchase some enamel drip trays or saucers big enough to capture the water ... or if you can't finds any, plastic trays are okay too.

I am excited for my project too so we can keep in touch and compare notes as we go along. Good luck I say, cheers

Thank you Lestie for the awesome tips. The studio loft is completely enclosed in my house so no worries about the wind. Not sure which herbs I'm going to try out first so I'll have to wait to see about the amount of sunlight. It is the brightest side of my house, though.

I will use the newspaper idea for my basin. It's a nice size basin, about 13" to 15" inches in diameter and probably about 5" deep I'd say without actually measuring it. I think it will be a wonderful starter container garden.

Looking forward to seeing what you decide to do with yours.
We will definitely keep in touch about it. I'll let you know when I decide on the herbs.

Have a blessed day!!!
Peg

Hi Peg and everyone,

Good news this - looking forward to your container gardening stories.

Perhaps you can think about growing a tower of nasturtium in the centre? Not only are they edible but they are pretty (come in so many jewel colours) and grow easily, and are just as easy to keep in control for the aesthetics of the general arrangement.

I have also just come across a lazy susan in my backroom and will be using this to prop my main herb dish on so that I can turn it weekly so that all the plants get their fair and equal share of sun and light.

Anyway and all that I say cheers for the nonce.

Hello everyone,

Well I am really on my way with this subject ... I came across an old and disused bird cage at a junk shop ... and I grabbed it and will be de-rusting and probably re-spray-painting it and then I will hang it from one of the trees in the garden with a lot of spillers cascading down.

Well, that is what I imagine anyway, so, there is another whimsical garden container of sorts that someone else may like to try. I am sure it is going to look nice!

Cheers now,

Hi Lestie. I LOVE the idea of the bird cage. How wonderful!! Now you've got my brain running on new creative containers. I have a room with tons of items in it that I've been collecting for years and also some leftovers from a shop that I use to have. I am certain that there is going to be something in that room that I can use to grow something else lovely.

I am just starting out making hand milled soaps. I want to have some herb gardens so that I can add fresh herbs to my soaps. Do you have any suggestions for aromatic herbs that would be easy to grow in containers gardens? I'm very excited about growing my own herbs as I've only dabbled in growing them in the past. Mostly I am focused on regular old houseplants. But the fresh herbs would be such a delightful addition to my soaps. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. Is there any way for us to see pictures of what you finally create with the bird cage? I'd love to see it.

Have a very blessed day and looking forward to your next post on this subject.

Peg

Hi Peg and all,

It looks like you are in for some fun when sorting through your stuff and imagining what you could do with it in the garden as far as containers may be concerned.

Anyway, speaking of my birdcage, it is still lying around, just bought, but not cleaned up yet. I need to sand it down, it's a bit rusted in places, and then I think I will spray paint it a bright colour, magenta or orange or bright green or electric blue or something. I am looking for a stand for it as well, though that will not halt what I want to do.

I have been thinking though that I do not want to grow anything that will take over and hide the container, I want to have the container birdcage as a prop for the flowers I choose. I need to think some more, but will let you know and will try to get a picture up and going when I am there.

If I go pink then perhaps a rambling rose? Or green then a combination of nasturtium and variegated ivy? If blue then something yellow and white for plants? Sjoe! The choice is endless really.

Good luck with your soap making revival, there are many fresh herbs you can grow both useful for this hobby as well as in your kitchen. I am not a soap maker, but I would go with rosemary and basil and parsley for sure. If you have the space, grow a lemon tree and then invest in some spices too like anise. BUT there must be many others you could grow, I just have never thought about herbs in a cosmetic way.

Many of the preparations are dried and crushed before adding though I think calendula (marigold) can be used fresh, but I am not sure.

Anyway, you will have fun to be sure, it is such a useful and creative hobby and or business.

Cheers for the nonce,