10 Imaginative Garden Ideas

Anca Gagiuc As a child, my Grandma showed me an amazing construction for her beloved flowers. She asked Grandpa to bring her a few used tires of different sizes which she transformed into a funky looking pyramid. Afterwards she filled them with soil and planted colorful plants between herbs with many shades of green. You can imagine the transformation that followed during the next months...

Samantha Schoech ancagigiuc--what a lovely way to reuse something ugly and make it beautiful. I would be wary of planting edibles in old tires, however, because of chemical seepage from the rubber, metals and other toxins.

permiewriter Where "creative" means "ugly and inefficient." Ugh.

Samantha Schoech permiewriter: All things do not appeal to all people. That goes without saying. But what's inefficient about these ideas?

Anca Gagiuc Very good point, Samantha, just plants that please the eye, this concept is for design purposes only.
As for the "ugly and inefficient" comment - "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"; Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage, once time wears out material things one can either give them to oblivion and destruction or extend their lives under a different form.

casavieja A suggestion re the cinder block planter: Make sure to keep plants in pots or line the holes with plastic, as otherwise the cinder block concrete will leach into the soil and inhibit growth. As far as using coffee cans, when I was growing up in the '60s, my Italian grandmother always used them as planters because they were cheap and plentiful...little did she know that she was making a fashion statement as well :-)

fredericklc I really liked the coffee can garden and the bottle tree. A cute post.

Wendy Wang http://www.questionandplanter.com/2012/04/from-australia-like-shaynnas-vertical-garden-screen/

here's a better version of the pallet walls. painted black with succulents.

Beth Saw a pretty cottage garden where the owner had taken an old pedestal sink, and installed a water pump so the water circulated and came out of the spigot opening, and this was a bird bath.

You can also lay a pallet flat on the ground and either fill the openings with soil or make sure the pallet is pushed down into the bare soil, and then plant herbs, vegetables or flowers in the openings.

Great way to have a weed free growing area. Also helps hold in water so you don't have to water so often.And if its a cottage garden paint the pallet pretty pastel colours. Or if you want a more simple look, paint the pallet brown or black so it blends in with the dirt more.

patricia beharry love the wooden pallet. unfortunately I live in the tropics, termites will eat me out within a week.

Deb Welch What a surprise to see my picture of the hen and chicks succulent in the sea shell posted in this story. Just a suggestion to anyone who's going to do this. Succulents do not do well in moist soil so it's a good idea to drill a couple holes in the bottom of the shell and mix some sand into the soil before planting to help with drainage. Once you've done that, they require very little care.

tyris601 Just a quick comment since pallet reusing has become all the rage. Make sure your pallet is printed with HT (heat treated) and not CT (chemical treated) to make sure you are not introducing unnecessary toxins into your home and gardens.

designchallenged enjoyable ideabook. especially like the veggie garden in photo #8.

patscats2 I've done the cinder block thing, it does work great. I love the bed and bath tub.

Jo-Ann Wow, I'm scared to death (as a gardener) reading this. Plants are living things and you can't just stick them in places you think they will look good and expect them to grow. Yikes...

Samantha Schoech itlajfk: What about these particular ideas makes you think people would be cavalier about their plants? Learning to garden or landscape is a process. Plants will be sacrificed in the process. But ultimately, everyone's goal is to have a thriving, healthy landscape with strong, beautiful plants.

Brenda Reeves These are all so creative. Why didn't I think of them"

Mid Century Mosaics I mosaic my cinder blocks and they look beautiful and make a great planter! I used smaller blocks and stacked them so they are easier to disassemble and move.

igotideaz I think the cinder block arrangement is quite clever...who knew!!!

trinabell I work at disney and we did the cinder block planter at the Flower and Garden Festival this year. We actually used liquid nails to attach some chicken wire and mesh to the inside of the cinder blocks to keep the dirt in. It worked pretty well.

mookie76 Mid Century Mosaic, I love your cinder blocks and plan on borrowing your idea!

Beth permiewriter wrote 'Where "creative" means "ugly and inefficient." Ugh.'

Ugly? Inefficient? Each is very efficient when one knows the word means to use something that works well for the situation at hand.

mpoulsom Bird Bath made from some of our yard/shed garbage! Rusted, old, cool base that we found in an old garage that we painted, rusted shovel head that we spray painted silver, with a small stripe of lavender and a gold color on the edge....then glued some broken mirror pieces onto it. Old metal garbage can lid with handle on top...spray painted it, attached shovel head to handle of lid and flipped it upside down, atop the base. Filled it with water, put a rock in the center and we have a beautiful and unique bird bath! (Also put a ground-staked solar spotlight to hit it at night and it gives off a slight glowing blue illumination.)
2 artists from JEDIMINDART
in SC

fcbuc1 Love the pallet box idea... I'm definitely going to do that for some herbs / veggies!!! Thanks!

myosotis Using empty coffee cans as planters is an idea that's been around since I was a child (I'm 57 now). My mother and grandmother used any available empty cans such as powder milk, fruit salad cans, cracker cans, you name it, they used it. This is a very common practice on the islands among the poor.

karashb De gustibus non est disputandum. Old Latin saying.

gnmm The cinder box has touched my heart

soumyamurthy Awesome pictures ! Thanks for sharing :)

jafraz Wonderful ideas for gifts, especially the plant in the shell.

bunnit they're all lovely. But they'd provide a smorgasbord for all the deer that roam thru our backyard.

chany48 Very nice ideas, I do not understand how some people find them disgusting or ugly. I sent them to my kids, who both love gardening

greengift Another fun idea is to grow a pet TickleMe Plant and watch how the leaves fold together like magic when you Tickle It!

http://www.ticklemeplant.com

nikimoto great stuff

nikimoto I like very colorful gardens.Theres nothing that clashes in nature so have vibrant colors in various tones.Use analogous tones or just plant flowers orshrubs that you find pleasing.Dont think that you arent able to do this.It is actually easy and you will feel good about your efforts.

gnmm Its true nothing clashes in nature

19953 its really beautiful nd unique idea......

Ryan Deters The old bed covered in flowers is cool, but what does it like during the winter?

Mid Century Mosaics Just in time for spring I just finished a new cinder block project.

mpoulsom love it Mid Century!!!! Thanks for the great idea! My brain is spinning now! ha! I'll have to do one this spring!

Mid Century Mosaics I wrote up some "how to" instructions on my blog!