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DIY – Make Your Own Creative Repurposed Shoe Gardens

If you need a little inspiration for your next plant container, the solution might be right at your feet … so to speak!

Don't give your shoes the boot. Repurpose them as decorative planters and sensational shoe gardens

Don’t give your old shoes the boot. Repurpose them as decorative planters.

If you’ve only got space for a micro garden, shoes make easy planters for herbs, shallow rooted leafy vegies and succulents that all do well in small spaces.

 

Repurpose with a purpose - This cute garden is from Lizard’s Home Sweet Home. Photo: Rabbit_mage

One night someone came into this school and broke every single pot in the garden. Instead of tossing it all, the kids picked up the bits, decorated them, and piled them along with some unique shoe planters and succulents, by a tree to make a cozy home for the wild lizards that hang around the school.

 

When your shoes have served their purpose, why not give them a new green life as a planter?  Add a few drainage holes with a screwdriver for soft soled shoes and use a drill for leather ones. If your sole already has a hole worn through, the job may be done for you!  Just fill with potting mix and plant away.  See below for boot-iful DIY shoe planter projects.

 

rRustic old boot garden - great use of textures and a cute feature planter. Photo: Charlene

This spider plant looks totally at home in this comfy old boot garden.

 

Beaut Boots

Upcycle new or old boots into plant containers. They can add a quirky feature to your garden space.

 

Boot planter collection via By Way of Salem Blog.

This rustic collection of boot planters are full of colourful flowers that bring a wall space to life.

 

Cowboy boot planter - a creative feature garden for a small space!

This cowboy boot has had pockets cut in the sides to make the most of vertical space. Succulents are planted in the top and herbs can cascade down the sides.

 

Quirky workboot planters. Photo: Melissa

Got an old pair of work boots like these? Remove the laces, fill up with potting mix and soften the edges with trailing plants.

 

Creative Container Ideas: Gorgeous Gumboot Planters

Check out these clever ways to grow plants in gumboot shoe planters. They sometimes split at the back along the seam, creating a natural opening for herbs that cascade down like thyme and mint. With the extra depth, gumboots are suitable to grow a wider variety of plants.

 

Kids rain boot planters - if you have children, you know how fast they grow out of shoes.

Colourful, cute and practical! If you’re looking for inspiring ideas to get your kids into the garden, make this your first project. Let them take ownership of their own edible shoe garden. This is a fun way to recycle, add colour and a fun theme to the garden as well as maximise vertical space on a fence!

 

Wonderful wellington boot planters filled to the brim with edible herbs and strawberries. Photo: Mark Pether-Longman

Wonderful wellington boot planters filled to the brim with edible herbs and strawberries. Love the repetition of colour with 2 pairs of boots too. They not only make practical use of vertical space but also cute feature gardens.

 

A recycled gumboot planter from The Inadvertent Farmer

A new trend in floral table arrangements? This recycled gumboot planter from The Inadvertent Farmer makes a funky addition to the outdoor table.

 

Gumboot planters suit flowers and plants that have a deeper root system and need that extra depth to grow. | The Micro Gardener

These repurposed wellington gumboots have still got a role to play in the garden as planters.

 

Check out the tutorial below if you’d like to make your own gumboot planter.

 

Rain boots planter tutorial | The Micro Gardener www.themicrogardener.com

I’ve made a few gumboot planters as they eventually split and give way, so they naturally have places to poke plants into! They are deep enough to make a practical & colourful addition to the garden.

 

Hanging Shoe Planters – A New Hanging Basket Trend?

Some creative gardeners have even repurposed their shoes into hanging planters.

 

Creative and colourful croc hanging planters - Photo: Mary Clark

In Mary’s garden, one of these crocs got cut by the lawn mower or some other equipment, so they were turned into little hanging planters!

 

Repurposed colourful croc hanging planter from Green Upgrader.

This simple idea using a croc as a hanging planter with flowers works so well because its design has built in drainage holes!

 

Business shoe planter. Photo: Erin Smith

Hairy Feet! These repurposed business shoes are comical planters hung over a fence!

 

When you’ve finished kicking up your heels, they can still be put to good use in your garden.

 

Red high heel planter. Photo: Marshall Holcomb

Red high heel planter filled with pansies. Colourful shoes are also a great addition to children’s gardens.

 

One of a kind high heel planters.

This collection of women’s shoes make practical planters for low maintenance succulents.

 

How to Make Your Own Shoe Planter Projects

If these creative containers have inspired to you turn a shoe into a planter,  then get started below:

 

Grow your own vertical vegetables in a hanging shoe caddy from Instructables.

Grow your own vertical vegetables in a hanging shoe caddy from Instructables.

 

So, next time your old sports shoes, boots, high heels, business shoes, gumboots, work boots or children’s shoes get a crack or hole in the sole, think of repurposing them into a novelty planter!

 

Want more like this? Check out Clever Plant Container Ideas and loads of inspiring photos in Repurposed Container Gardens.  You’ll also find more Clever Design Ideas in the Container Gardening category.

 

 

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© Copyright Anne Gibson, The Micro Gardener 2016. https://themicrogardener.com. All rights reserved.

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