Green Gardening

I've been container gardening for the first time this summer. It started innocently enough with some catmint and catnip, and now I have quite a tiny and nice collection of other flowers and herbs. The soil is inexpensive - even the organic stuff, so that is great. My complaint is the cost for pots. I love the ceramic ones but they are heavy and pricey. The plastic ones, while cheaper, are still going to add up to too much if I keep up this pace. So....

I have always bought my spring water in the large containers with the spouts. (2 1/2 gallons, I think.)

Here they are, on their short end, spout facing down. I have removed the spout valve.

I cut off the "top", at about 1 1/2- 2 inches. Now I put that underneath the containers and they act as a perfect saucer for the runoff. Then I fill with soil...


Here is my coreopsis. She is not complaining so far. Nice handle too for moving around!!


And in the second container, some coneflower. These containers won't win any beauty awards, but they are not costing me any money. Danny Seo, eat your heart out!! :)



The drain and 'saucer' work perfectly. I take the runoff and toss it into another plant.



I'll keep a close eye on these to make sure there are no unforeseen problems.

After the gardening season is over, I will give the containers a good cleaning and put them in my recycling bin. Perfect!!!

Mr. Biddles approves.