From the kitchen to the garden and right back inside again. You can re-use that old colander, muffin tray or vintage tin – with its chips and dents the evidence of too much cookery love – by taking it outside and planting it up with herbs and salad greens. Or strawberries! Yum! You could even go ornamental with spring-flowering bulbs or colourful polyanthus. Whatever you grow in a pot will also grow in a colander – the one kitchen utensil that comes with ready-made drainage holes. So give it a new meaning of life with living things!
Turn your old kitchen items into perfect planters
1. Muffin trays
Muffins tins make ideal planters for succulents, as they have ample planting space. Wash first to remove grease or grim. Next, drill holes in the bottom of each muffin hole for drainage. Spray with a metal primer first and then you’re ready to plant. Use a specialist cactus and succulent potting mix. Then mix and match the succulents to create a gorgeous patchwork effect in the tray. Darker succulents add contrast to the design.
2. Colourful vintage tins
Keep an eye out for colourful, quirky tins the next time at the supermarket, or collect a range of vintage tins. Drill several drainage holes in the bottom of each tin. To help them last a bit long, spray with a clear finishing sealer. Plant seasonal flowers in the tin, like petunias in warmer months and pansies or violas in cooler months.
Project: Step by step to a hanging colander vegie garden
Gather your supplies
- 2 x old colanders
- Quality potting mix
- Geotextile fabric or insect screen mesh
- Vegetable and herb seedlings
- 10mm sisal rope
You’ll also need
Trowel; scissors; wall bracket and fixings
Here’s How
Step 1
Clean colanders and spray paint a bright colour if you wish. Line colanders with geotextile fabric or insect screen mesh, trimming to fit with scissors.
Step 2
Scoop potting mix into colanders with a trowel until three-quarters full.
Step 3
Arrange seedlings on top of mix, then pad more mix gently but firmly around seedlings.
Step 4
Wind rope through colander handles so one colander is about 25-30cm above the bottom one.
Step 5
Knot ends of rope and trim off excess. Attach bracket to wall with supplied fixings and hang planter.
Step 6
Water in well with a seaweed solution.
Get more fabulous projects in the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, available now in selected newsagents and supermarkets – or buy online today!
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