This being tax season in the midst of a recession, I know that finding extra money for containers can be a bit like trying to squeeze blood out of a rock. I feel ya, believe me. But there are some pretty fun containers just waiting for your plants, and the good news is that they aren’t prohibitively expensive.
- Red Wagons – Look for used wagons at the second hand shop or at yard sales. Or maybe your kids have one they haven’t used in years. Use a hammer and nail or awl to punch a hole every six inches for drainage and pot that bad boy up. I also recently saw a rusty old wheelbarrow planted with edibles. Same idea, and it looked great!
- Soda Cans – I saw this at Maureen Gilmore’s talk on frugal gardening at the San Francisco Garden Show. In Mexico, she found a street vendor who was selling a succulent called String of Pearls growing in soda and beer cans. Trust me, it looked really cool and retro-ish. The trick is to find interesting cans. Coffee tins could also look pretty neat, and would provide a bigger “pot.” Or you could always paint them a bright color.
- Short Lengths of Sewer Pipe – Don’t knock this idea until you check out this idea at Pinterest. See? Now all you need to do is stalk road construction sites.
- Trash Cans – When I was in the hardware store the other day, I saw really cool looking metal trash cans that were half the size of the kind you put out on the curb.
- Bird Baths – You can find people selling a bird bath for cheap on Craigslist. They look really awesome planted with succulents. All the cool kids are doing it.
Bonus Idea: What about a colander? There are some really cool looking retro ones in interesting colors. Or you could always spray paint one to suit your color scheme.
What’s your best frugal container gardening idea?
