Creative Container Gardening

Many of my unusual items have found a second life as gardening containers. For example, this simple galvanized water pail filled with daisies.

The hanger on this rusty and crusty old sap-gathering bucket came in handy for attaching it to my garden fence, before a miniature rose was added.

Because Impatiens love growing in wire baskets, I removed the disintegrated table top on this side table, made a chicken wire bowl to fit within the opening, lined it with moss and added potting soil and the plants. Voila! A portable garden!

This was my dad’s lunch box. Sorry dad…not a fan of sandwiches so I planted maidenhair ferns in it.

And lastly, my garden-in-a-globe hanging planter. Here’s how you can make your own. With a knife, carefully cut the globe in half. Drill or poke three equidistant holes around the top edge for hanging and one hole in the bottom for drainage. Coat the inside and outside of the globe with a clear weather-resistant finish – Mod Podge Outdoor Glue is fantastic. Reinforce the hanging holes with rivets. Use S-hooks to fasten equal lengths of chain to the holes. Attach the other ends of the chains to another S-hook to serve as a hanger. Place a few light pebbles in the bottom for drainage then add potting soil and plant of your choosing.

So crank up your imagination and start planting your own unique mini-gardens!

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Serene Green Garden Container

Photo by Christa Neu

As consistent warm weather approaches, it’s time to start planning our gardens. And if you have a small back yard like me, I like to get a little creative with some of my containers. I created this simple moss urn for an Organic Gardening Magazine story. It is super easy to assemble and it requires low-maintenance. Follow these simple steps to create your own serene green garden container:

Step One
Gather the materials: a container with a drainage hole, growing medium, and moss. Pots made of porous terra-cotta or concrete will help keep the soil cool, although those made of other materials also work. Harvest moss from your backyard, or call friends until you find someone who has a patch of moss you can harvest from. Or, you can order live moss on-line at mossacres.com.

Step Two
Fill the container with the growing medium. I used compost and commercial potting mix. Press firmly to compact it, and mound it into a dome.

Step Three
Press small patches of moss onto the medium and arranging them to completely cover the surface of the potting mix.

Follow-up Care
Water as needed. Even if the moss dries out, it will quickly revive once you resume watering.