Make it a garden!

The high today, a late February Winter day in Columbus, Ohio, is 53.  53!! And this is old news by now–I think it’s been below freezing maybe 15 days this season? (I’m sure the real number is out there, don’t go claiming only 2 weeks of freezing weather in Ohio on my word)

During a normal season, it’s not until the Spring weather starts appearing that I begin to think about gardens. Since its been Spring for a month already, I’ve got sprouts and dirt on the brain a bit earlier this year. This is probably good since I usually start my attempt at gardening too late. I’m going to be on the ball this year!

We live in a rental house, and I don’t feel like I can just start digging up the yard for a garden.  Two summers ago I bought 4 pots of various sizes for growing stuff. I quickly realized that’s not much room for growing anything substantial, but I didn’t want to invest in a slew of terra cotta pots; they’re heavy, clunky, and while 2 or 3 are cheap, it does add up.

I’ve been having visions of making a vertical garden out of tin cans and decided to google some more ideas which consequently turned into an expansive pinning session on Pinterest. Let’s just say I’m not the first one to come up with idea of reusing materials for gardening…

(all images are linked to their source)

tin can gardens

Welp, here’s my idea…looks good, right?! I love the idea of painting the cans. Makes them look so bright and cheery!

beverage container turned garden

Just cut off the tops of 2 liters to make hanging planters.

Gallon milk jugs are big enough to plant tomatoes.

Hanging a bunch of 20oz soda bottles makes a great vertical garden installation!

Use empty wine bottles, or other glass bottles, to outline your planters.

from (or off of) the house

Using gutters is a great way to grow lettuce. I’m thinking about going to Columbus’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore to pick up some gutters for this. I bet they’ll have a ton of other things to use too…bathtubs? toilets? heh heh. Hey, it’s been done before!

You better be already use reusable bags to carry your groceries home, why not use them to grow the food from the beginning?!

The industrial side of gardens

 Brightly colored tires for tree planters? why the heck not?!

I discovered the vertical garden from wood pallets last year and thought they were amazing. The above pic from Design Sponge has a DIY on how to make your own!

Apartment Therapy has one, too:

And another from Stacy K Floral:

Like the tin cans, I love that these are painted so bright and fun. There’s something about gardens that are just whimsical. I’m not that fond of cutesy characters inside, but when it comes to the garden, bring on the trolls, gnomes, and other colorful, magical whimsies!

(I also just noticed that the blog post for those pallets was posted on my birthday! Another reason I must like it so much 🙂 )

Take the garden with you

I saw these on Inhabitat the other day and immediately fell in love. First because it’s 3d printed, which is pretty cool. The form for my fox project I told you about was 3d printed. And second, because it’s a garden for your bike! Love it!

 wear it!

These garden pendants are totally awesome. Love me some garden gems!

Two morals of the story here:

•  I was by no means original with my “let’s make a tin can garden”
•  Have a container of any size/shape/material? Make it a garden!