Check antique malls, thrift shops, restores to upcycle some fun UNUSUAL CONTAINERS

By Pam Baytos

OSU Ext. master gardener volunteer

This time of year I’m sure we’ve all been drooling over our garden catalogs, marking our favorites, and making lists to ready our orders. I also start to get cabin fever just thinking about all the gardening I could be doing.

This is when we head out to antique malls, thrift shops and restores to find wonderful unusual containers. It just gets me in the gardening mood and quenches my appetite to plan for the year. I think gardening should be fun, as anyone who has visited my garden knows – I like a little whimsy. What’s fun is to upcycle something into a garden container to jazz up your landscape.

The same “rules” apply whether you plant in a traditional container or a shoe.

Regardless of the container, you need to use a moistened soilless mix. Make sure your container – whether it be an old chair, wheelbarrow or an old stump – has drainage holes.

For my sunny kitchen location, I plant herbs in paint cans hung on my deck railing along with an old colander on a bench filled with colorful mixed lettuce which makes it easy to head out with scissors to enjoy fresh greens for our salad.

For those who have trouble bending down to garden, try galvanized stock tanks or old metal rinse tubs to grow vegetables and flowers.

Hypertufa troughs and pots filled with succulents can add some height and interest to your rock garden. Broken clay pots set on their side let plants flow into your garden. Troughs along with filled wicker baskets can fit into your cottage-style garden. An old metal wash tub with a clay pot person submerged in a sea of any variety of white flowers looks like it’s bubble bath time in your garden.

You don’t have to install an expensive water garden to your landscape to enjoy the sounds of falling water. There are many ways to make a simple water feature in your garden. From buckets to old claw-foot bathtubs, they will give a gentle waterfall sound with more interest.

Hanging baskets don’t have to be left out; try putting them inside an old birdcage to increase their impact. Pink painted work boots setting outside your door not only make you smile, but give the message “No shoes allowed.”

You can do even more inside your home: an old red toaster minus its insides makes a happy home for my spider plant. Try old coffee pots, picture frames or scrub buckets – the choices are endless and these are only a few ideas.

Now is the time to go forth and let the treasure hunt begin.

To learn about these ideas and more, watch for the Garden Art Series at the OSU Extension Office. Upcoming programs include “Plant a Garden Implement” and “Planted Picture Frame,” where you can join in on the fun world of unusual containers.

To learn more about soil and other needs of your containers, visit http://go.osu.edu/containergardening.