Clever Plant Container Ideas
DIY – Make Your Own Garden Planters
Why buy new when you can DIY and save money? Need a little inspiration to get your garden started in a container? Check out what some amazingly creative people around the globe have used to grow a garden in – just about everything!
This old desk school desk has a new life in the garden as an edible planter filled with luscious lettuces, shallots and colourful flowers.
Ideas for Repurposed Planters … INCLUDING the Kitchen Sink!
Stuck for where to start? Looking for inspiration for what to grow your next garden in? Look no further! I hope you like these creative planters as much as I do.
A new meaning for 'potted' plants! These old toilet cisterns have also been given a new life as planters. Porcelain is long lasting and with built in drainage, their prior lives could be concealed behind other plants or a bamboo screen around the base.
Here’s a list of objects, furniture, fashion and household items just waiting for a new life in your garden.
From the Kitchen:
- Old tea kettle (reuse as a watering can) or upcycle into a planter.
Love this gorgeous kettle planter. With a few drainage holes it's the perfect size for flowers or herbs.
- Lunch boxes and plastic cutlery holders from an old dishwasher or off the kitchen sink when washing up.
- Old biscuit/cookie/tea or coffee tins. If you’d like to make a hanging flower basket from a metal tin can like the one below, you can follow the instructions at Craft Stylish.
This tin can has been converted into an attractive metal hanging planter and filled with flowers. Perfect for a cool position in the garden.
Want to make a Mini Indoor Planter out of tin cans? Learn how in this video:
- Jars, urns, jugs and vases – these all look very decorative.
Used tin cans from the pantry – If you think this tin can planter garden looks great as a DIY project, visit Centsationalgirl’s blog which has all the instructions on how to make one of your own.
These cute tin can planters are easy to make and look even more effective when you use 'repetition' as a design trick. Group a few together and plant the same plants or same colour for big impact.
- Wire spice racks (cover the wire with coir fibre or moss before filling with potting mix).
This three-tiered wire spice rack has been filled with moss and mini succulents and makes great use of vertical space.
- Bowls of all shapes and sizes – drill holes in the bottom first.
- Colanders (have great drainage holes already).
Colanders are well suited to stand alone planters or being converted to hanging baskets with a little chain or rope. The base just broke off my silver colander so it's my next planter project!
This brassy look colander is teamed up well with flowers and makes a decorative and practical planter. Try making a herb one instead and you can garnish your food at the table!
- Muffin tins (raise seedlings or sprouts in these).
- Ovenware and bakeware – turn a bread pan into a cute window planter like the one below with a succulent garden.
Silver and succulents just seem to go together like bread and butter. This combination are just made for each other.
- Old kitchen sink – love the one below from Silver Valley Stories blog:
- Dead refrigerator – door removed of course!
- Plastic containers (not recycle numbers 3, 6 or 7 though!) – read more about choosing safe containers for food gardens.
- An old wok.
- Crockery – or cracked pots. These can always be glued or the damaged side hidden up against another plant or wall and revamped into a planter.
Inventive gardener Denise had holes drilled in these crock pots by her hubby to make attractive planters by the front door.
Furniture:
- Drawers and shelving – there’s no limit to what can be done with drawers – the depth determines what you plant. There are loads of ideas for those with limited space such as the drawer and ladder combo below from DiggersList:
These wooden drawers have been reused as growing boxes nestled on a ladder framework. What a nifty idea and great use of vertical space for a micro garden.
- Baby change tables – with a shelf below and a place where you can remove the soft mat from the top, these make ideal potting benches or shelves on which to put other planters.
- Chest of drawers – these can make useful vertical plant shelves, potting benches and planters like the one below:
Got an old dresser, chest of drawers or buffet you no longer need? Then repurpose it into a fun and functional planter or potting bench.
- Chairs – when the seat breaks or needs refurbishing, use this as an opportunity to create a garden planter.
This attractive clever edible folding chair planter looks good enough to eat! Trailing herbs and flowers and the timber chair frame are a perfect match.
From the House:
- Old cane washing baskets – have great drainage and depth so make the perfect planter. They can be spray painted or age gracefully in the garden.
- Bath tubs – these make fantastic deep planters and can be themed to your own tastes!
This bathtub has been remodeled into a unique cow planter filled with flowers. A fun project for a kids garden.
- Washing machine drum - old style washing machines also suit quirky planters.
- Wire waste baskets and rubbish bins – with good depth and often fine wire mesh for drainage, they just need lining and potting mix to start a micro garden.
- Laundry peg baskets – make great hanging baskets as they come with ready made drainage and handle for hanging.
- Baby bath tub – made from a variety of materials, when no longer needed, they can be retired to the garden for a new life as a planter. Below is an example of an enamel bath tub from The Angry Pin Cushion.
On the left is an old roasting pan and to the right is a baby bath - both reinvented as planters filled with pansies.
- Children’s toys such as dump trucks and wagons make great planters as they have space in the top for micro gardens.
Love this idea for a kid's garden space at home, childcare centre, kindy or school. Fill with edibles like chocolate mint and colourful calendula.
Toy carts and wagons make fun and practical planters for kids gardens. Plant colourful salad vegies and you have 'Meals on Wheels.'
- Baskets and boxes – I’ve grown lots of mini gardens both permanent and temporary in baskets and cardboard/wooden boxes.
This metal wire basket has been lined with coconut fibre to hold moisture and planted out with colourful fuschias. Balance the plant to the size of the container for a great effect.
- Prams with the hood removed or folded down for maximum sunlight suit those of you wanting meals on wheels.
- Portable BBQ grill.
- Basins (with a built in drainage hole where the plug used to be and usually made from durable porcelain, they make great planters)
This old metal wash basin has been revamped as a planter, filled with attractive plants and even some terracotta pot garden art!
From the Wardrobe:
Don’t think fashion is relevant in the garden? Think again with these inspirational (and unusual) ideas!
- Clothes! Couldn’t resist including this one from The Happy Hoe – how many of you are brave enough to hang a garden out in your lingerie?
Needless to say, the bigger the better with a bra planter! One of the more unique ways of growing a garden.
- Bags and baskets – just get creative with whether they become the planter or hold another pot inside.
Got an old basket you no longer use? They come in all shapes and sizes and usually have great drainage built-in. They also have the added benefit of being portable gardens with handles!
- Shoes and boots – there are just too many photos to show in this post – you can check out more sensational shoe planters in a later post.
You can't go past a pair of old work boots for rustic charm, especially if they're old garden shoes. Pop a hole in the sole and plant away!
Once outgrown, these cute little white children's sneakers make perfect pots for the garden. Softened with matching white cascading flowers they make a perfect pair as the plants chosen don't dwarf the shoes.
Rachel Mahlke, an artist from California transforms old stiletto heels collected from her friends and thrift stores, into extraordinary planters with cacti and other succulents. First she removes the top of the shoe and then sands it, drills holes for drainage and finally plants a cactus in a mixture of natural and organic fertilizers and soil.
A classy modern looking stiletto cactus planter is at the other end of the scale! A succulent is the best choice for this micro garden.
- Shoe racks – why not repurpose one into a great planter like this one from Apartment Therapy or watch a video on how to make your own vertical garden for growing strawberries in a canvas shoe rack.
Use a hanging canvas shoe rack to hold small plants in the pockets. What a clever vertical micro garden for a small space!
- Hats – many come with a neck strap and can be filled with potting mix and plants, then hang the strap up on a hook for a hanging basket.
From the Garage, Garden and Shed:
Clean out your garage, look in the garden, poke around in the shed or garage sale and you’re sure to find some useful items that can be repurposed as planters.
- Rotten logs – if you’d like to make your own planter, you can follow the instructions at Make It From Scratch.
Reusing old timber logs that are not housing wildlife is another fun project for those looking for a free sustainable planter.
- Milk crates, buckets and old trolleys.
- Old wheelbarrows – they come in all shapes, materials and sizes but make fantastic planters for all sorts of edibles and ornamentals. You can also just use the top part of the barrow if it’s made of plastic into a water garden, nestled down in between other plants.
When the bottom of the wheelbarrow gives way, the depth and angle of the barrow makes a great planter with a few drainage holes. Plus the added bonus of having a portable pot.
- Tool boxes – metal, wooden or plastic these work well as planters. See how the one below has made good use of a design trick (Contrast) – planted out with drought tolerant succulents, it has been colour coordinated with the red flowers in another pot.
Even tradies can garden! This bright red metal drillbox has been reused as a planter for sempervivums and sedums.
Planted out with complementary colours, this bright red toolbox makes a great home for low maintenance succulents.
- Ladders make great vertical spaces for pot plants.
- Old bicycle baskets hooked onto the handlebars (flowers look great in these repurposed planters).
I couldn't resist taking a photo of this gorgeous bicycle planter - the baskets had been filled with coir fibre and planted with flowers.
- Rustic tools or farm equipment.
Got a rustic garden? This old Seed Drill has been turned into a planter. Why not theme your garden with a collection of old tools and farm equipment?
- Barrels and boxes.
- Old suitcases – when they get too battered and bruised from travelling, give them a well deserved rest in the garden as a planter or as storage for garden supplies.
- Wooden crates and pallets – if you’re handy with a hammer and nails you can make all sorts of creative wooden planters.
- Watering cans – big or small these always look great.
- Clam shell sandpits and wading pools – these structures are usually well made with plastic walls high enough to grow a decent number of plants.
Custom Build Your Own Garden Containers – Don’t spend a fortune on your garden containers. Instead, build your own. Learn how to transform found objects into garden containers, build a hanging basket out of an old colander, and make a container fit for multiple plants.
Have these ideas inspired you to start a repurposed planter project? If so, please leave a comment, share your ideas and photos to show others what you’ve done. We can all learn from each other.
I’ll be posting more photos of how others are using repurposed planters in their gardens soon, so if you don’t want to miss these, subscribe to my newsletter (and grab your free eBook) or click on the RSS feed. If you liked this post, check out these clever design ideas, tips on frugal gardening and more on repurposed containers.
Copyright The Micro Gardener 2011 – http://www.themicrogardener.com
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I used tin cans as well! I got some paint cans and converted them into upside down planters:
http://typearamblings.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-upside-down-planters.html
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Wonderful, unique ideas. I’ve already started my chair planter. Thanks
Great to hear you’ve found a project you can ‘dig’ into Nancy. Thanks for stopping by … would love to see it when it’s done! Enjoy.
This is such a smart way to be green and environmentally conscious. I work at American Standard and we loved your blog post and ideas so much, we posted your page on our Facebook fan page linking directly to your blog article with a credit going to your website. Our plumbers and fans are sharing on their fan pages for their audience. I hope we can get more readers for your awesome content. Please stop by and say hi as the blogger who came up with these clever ideas. Our fans would appreciate it.
http://www.facebook.com/AmericanStandardPlumbing
Wow thanks Gulsah! This topic seems to have hit a chord with so many people. The more we make of what we’ve already got, the less goes to landfill and as you say, we can become more ‘conscious’ about the choices we make. I’ll pop over to your Facebook page and say hi!
Its an Indescribable Joy to discover ur website. Thank u so so much for ur beautiful ideas and encouragement.
I stay in a flat so I’ve limited space. I’m new into gardening. Just started with growing mint, fenugreek, ginger and mustard. I’ve 3 miniature roses also. Its growing beautifully and I’m so glad, excited and satisfied to see them grow. My daughter has developed interest in gardening something which she never had.
Thank u again. Will keep coming to ur site for more and more gardening tips.
Love
Mrs. B Paul
You’ve made my day Mrs Paul reading your lovely comment! Thanks so much and glad you found some ideas here. If you subscribe to my free newsletter, you’ll get a copy of my eBook on Small Gardens with loads of tips that will be very helpful as a beginner gardener plus some specific ideas on making the most of small spaces. Thanks for dropping by and look forward to sharing your gardening journey. Happy growing, Anne
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Well and truly bookmarked this one!
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What a catalogue of ideas, fantastic. I thought all my innovations had been included but can I add a toilet cistern…. My wife is well endowed so I have placed an interest in her next discarded bra, just hope I can afford the compost to fill it…..!
Well Colin, you have certainly given me a giggle for the day!! Thanks for your suggestion. I am just visualising your Bra Planter (or should I say your wife’s?) as a new addition to your garden art. I am sure the ‘over shoulder boulder holder’ (as we used to call them as kids!) will be BUSTing with colour or edibles in the near future. Please email me [anne @ themicrogardener.com] a pic when you make it to share with other readers and inspire them to BIGGER things!
Oh dear, I am well and truly in the dog house, cast asunder and relegated to being placed under the thumb. Not because my tribute for Valentines day was inadequate but because my better half has decided to join the female emancipation lobby and in future burn all her discarded bra’s.
The basic reason is that I am entering our tenant’s garden competition again this year and having got a First Prize for my Container entry last year my dearly beloved has made it clear that any chance of her bras being photographed and published for all to see will be unacceptable……..
Tee Hee Hee, saved me a fortune in compost……..
Thanks for sharing Colin! Had such a good laugh and would love you to email me some of your pics – congrats on first prize. Would love to share with other subscribers. Perhaps you’ll have to visit the op shop instead to source a suitable substitute!!
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