Yes, I just leave them out for winter usually by the greenhouse - they get a lot of snow cover there. The sedum always survives, but it can be hit & miss with the hens&chicks - some live, some don't, those that don't just get replaced. That photo was taken in August, and the boots were planted that spring from mostly rooted cuttings. But I like a full look right from the start so I will stuff in about as many plants as the container will hold. I use a really gritty soil and stuff small rocks under the semps and around the crowns of plants.

I love succulents. One of these days I'm going to build an outdoor succulent coffee table.

Thanks Pudge,
I love succulents also, and have taken much of my inspiration from your pictures. The hens & chicks are fun to play around with. I have a wreath that has filled in quite well and always gets positive comments.

So, how on earth does a person go about growing plants in old boots and shoes?

Do you drill holes in the bottom of them? With the soil and water, don't they get stinky and rotten? Or, do you line them with plastic bags, and still drill drainage holes?

I've often seen people grow various plants in all kinds of castoff items, and wondered how well they did long term.

I don't know how she did it, but the year my uncle retired, my aunt planted flowers in his boots, hard hat and lunch pail. She said otherwise he might have been tempted to go back to work!

Marcia, that's hilarious!

Something like that kinda makes a person start wondering what of DH's stuff is just clutter around here, LOL !!

I didn't drill any holes. I thought about it, but decided that excess water wouldn't have trouble draining thru the old boots, and certainly wouldn't have trouble with the old sneakers. If it were something that held water, though, I would do drainage holes. I just stuffed gritty soil & rocks in those boots & sneakers until it was full and planted.

Geez, I never had that thought when I sold a couple of hard hats in a garage sale a few years ago. Darn!

A word of warning about drilling holes in boots... Don't do what I did. The boots I used had soft rubber soles. I thought I'd quickly drill holes in them. Of course, I didn't bother to secure them in any way. The bit caught in the rubber and flung the boot right around; a good way to hurt yourself. You probably already know better, but it was a lesson for me.
Here's a pic of the trouble makers. You can see they're not nice and full like Pudge's. I have work to do on them.