Container gardening can be a great way to have the garden you always wanted even if you don’t have the perfect yard for it. Thousands of people of across the country have taken to container gardening as spectacular way to fit as much produce as they can in tiny, tiny spaces. (Trust me I have container garden envy)
Finding creative ways to grow your fruits and veggies is half the fun of gardening in challenging places! Whether you live in the middle of a big city or are just not lucky enough t have good soil, growing your garden of Eden in pots, shoes, and whatever else you can find will sure soothe that green thumb of yours.
You only grow things in pots, right? WRONG
Just because pots are the usual containers used in these types of gardens, doesn’t mean you can’t get a little creative. Why not look around your house and find something that you can repurpose for your container garden.
Over the weekend, the kids and I got together our materials to set up our garden. You want to know how much we spent? Absolutely nothing! Yep, ZILCH! We poked our noses around our house to try and find tings that would work for our yummy little greens.
For our garden, we repurposed recycling containers. We’ve had four recycling containers that we kind of inherited over the years. That happened to work perfectly for the tomatoes and potatoes that we wanted to plant. We just had to get them ready so our planting fun could begin.
First thing we did, was wash them out. Make sure their aren’t any insects or residue in your container. That makes for unhappy veggies!
Next, we grabbed some landscaping fabric that we had left over from another gardening project and laid it on the bottom. This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but the recycling bins usually have quarter sized holes in the bottom, and you don’t want the soil to escape over time. This fabric contains the soil, but still lets all the water have a place to drain. (It drains slowly so the plants still get the water they need)
Once you get the landscaping fabric laid down, it’s time for dirt. We used left over manure and top soil from last year’s garden, and then we were blessed to have 4 bags of compost left by the previous owners as well.
Now we are all ready to plant! In addition to our tomatoes and potatoes we are planting more fresh herbs out there. You can’t beat herbs fresh from the garden!
So, look around your house and get creative! What could you repurpose to start your container garden? Here’s just list of a few ideas to get you started!
- Shoes
- Over the door shoe racks
- 2 liter soda bottles cut in half
- Egg cartons (great for starting seedlings)
- Milk crates (just make sure to wrap inside in landscaping fabric)
- Old plastic totes (make sure to drill holes in the bottom)
- Old plastic food storage containers
- Food pails
- Ice cream buckets
Do you love to repurpose? You might enjoy making a Repurposed Fire Pit!
Want to read more gardening posts? Make sure to check out Don’t Throw It Out, Grow It Out!
morningdove says
I have an old gas grill that I filled with dirt and is now a planter! I removed the wheels and the bottom six inches of the “legs” which were all rusty anyway, and I dug down into my flower bed about another 6 inches and “sunk” it in. It’s got a little shelf on each side, where I can put other potted plants, and it already had holes in the bottom for it to drain from. I did add a layer of broken pottery for added drainage. I don’t live in an area where stones are easy to find around the yard, so I save all my broken dishes (I have a 3 yo who helps with that) and I break them up for the bottom of my pots. I also have an old plastic high chair with a pot in the seat that I’m using to trellis a vine up the legs….it should cover the entire highchair and disguise it completely. Also old footed bathtubs make great containers too!
Crunchy Frugalista says
That’s an awesome idea!
daisy says
What a great idea! I think that people can have a lot of fun with this!
OurFamilyWorld says
I love the idea of container gardening! It seems like an easier way to get started with growing things.
Amber Edwards says
I love this idea of repurposing household items for container gardens! That is awesome. I’ve looked at gardening supplies specifically for container garden. And those are expensive! I love that you can use much more affordable items for the container garden.
Ashley Sears says
Amber, containers alone can get to be SO expensive that’s why we always try to think outside of the box (or container ;))
Kristyn says
these are great ideas, thanks for sharing 🙂
Jade @DivaFabulosa.com says
I love re purposing stuff to. Like we reuse those plastic cups from the fast food chains to plant seeds and then later transplant them to wherever they need to be permanently.
Ashley Sears says
Jade, That’s a great idea I had never thought about doing that. We use egg cartons a lot for our seed starters
Patty says
How clever. I have an acquaintance who is using an old refrigerator as a raised bed. You just have to think outside the erm, box – right?
Teresha F says
I have been promising to learn to garden but the idea of tackling a yard is intimidating. But I think even I can handle a container! Thanks for the tips!
Ellen Christian says
We plant just about everything in containers. I would recommend that you choose food grade plastic to use for your containers just to be aware of any leach/toxins in the plastics you choose.
Jenn @comebackmomma says
Great ideas. Some sand toys the kids no longer play with would make cute planters.
Laura O in AK says
I love the idea to repurpose things for containers. I’ll have to put my thinking cap on for what we have lying around the house.
Jenna Wood says
We used to container garden when I was a kid and we lived in a small condo. You can easily use the $6 Rubbermaid tubs from Walmart to make individual gardens for each kid. Love it!
Dede says
I love container gardening. I use Earth Boxes for most of my plants, but am starting to repurpose some other containers too.
mel says
What great ideas!!! I need to start repurposing things!
Kristyn says
What an awesome idea for a gardening container 🙂