What can I plant in tin baths and old wooden crates¿

Kyrae

The half whiskey barrels do make great ponds! Made one last year and already have some frog spawn in it, very excited!! I lined it using some pond liner from a garden centre and some tacks (just tacked along the top above the water level, hard to do neatly as you have to pleat the fabric to get it to fit into the circular barrel!), put a few bricks in the bottom and gravel, and then stood some aquarium plant pots full of lovely pond plants on top of the bricks, then added the water! To get frogs in the pond, stack rocks up the outside so they can get into the pond, and make sure one of the plant pots inside the pond is near the top of the water level so the frogs can jump back out the pond and onto the rocks! Makes a very interesting feature, and great for wildlife! You might even get some dragonflies and damselflies!

1sue23

Kyrae wrote: »

The half whiskey barrels do make great ponds! Made one last year and already have some frog spawn in it, very excited!! I lined it using some pond liner from a garden centre and some tacks (just tacked along the top above the water level, hard to do neatly as you have to pleat the fabric to get it to fit into the circular barrel!), put a few bricks in the bottom and gravel, and then stood some aquarium plant pots full of lovely pond plants on top of the bricks, then added the water! To get frogs in the pond, stack rocks up the outside so they can get into the pond, and make sure one of the plant pots inside the pond is near the top of the water level so the frogs can jump back out the pond and onto the rocks! Makes a very interesting feature, and great for wildlife! You might even get some dragonflies and damselflies!

I have done this and have added some old brass taps and a pump looks lovely next to the boat , I have a tin bath filled with bedding on top of the boat ,and the wooden boxes are filled with strawberry plants and herbs .

hethmar

I think they can look fine depending on your garden. Obviously a hanky size neat and tidy estate garden wouldnt be suitable but if you have a wild one like ours, a tin bath would be fine in a corner with ivy and bulbs for the spring and in the summer you could have geraniums, pelegoniums and lots of lobelia and other trailing plants? Ferns also look good and are perennial.

Oh, just saw your rellies think ivy is unlucky?? You can tell them its about the best thing you can have in the garden for wildlife! Cover in the winter, nesting in the spring, insects all year for the birds to eat and then fruits in the autumn. But I was actually thinking a smaller more cultivated type for your tin baths.

ERICS_MUM

hostie wrote: »

Thanks Sally, should I put earth in the wooden crates and then herb seeds or put herbs in plant pots in them? Sorry to ask so many questions I am a complete novice!
Thanks,
hostie

Sorry, reading this back it's a bit long, hope it's worth the read

You could treat the wood first, a couple of coats inside and out, with a preservative (e.g. cuprinol) to slow down any rotting. Keep them raised off the soil or patio by an inch or so to let them drain (need holes in the bottom). I would also line them with heavy polythene to protect the soil and roots a bit from heat/frost but with a few holes punched here and there for drainage.

Some herbs will survive all winter and come up again, so you could plant them actually in the soil, but some will only last the summer and it would be easier to plant them in pots and sink them into the soil so you can remove them when finished without disturbing the permanent herbs (hope this makes sense!)

I usually plant up my pots, troughs etc with a mix of permanent plants such as small evergreen shrubs or miniature conifers then add other shorter lasting plants for different seasons - winter and spring I use pansies and daff bulbs, and for summer I plant geraniums, petunias, begonias and fuchsias.

If your tin baths are large you would be better off half-filling it with permanent shrubs/evergreens to give it a structure and varying shapes/heights then adding colour as I mentioned above. Put a layer of rubble/stones in the bottom for free drainage.

Things in containers need regular watering and feeding in summer and light pruning / deadheading to keep them tidy.

Sounds a great project, would like to see some photos later in the year.

Linda xx

hostie

I´m feeling very inspired now! I´m glad to hear that you have done the pond thing successfully Kyrae and Sue. I´d love to see photos of the ponds or of your bath and boxes 1Sue23.

I think I have cuprinol somewhere so I will start preparing the boxes tomorrow exactly as you suggest Ericsmum. Can´t wait now!

Thanks for your suggestions on plants too hethmar which I will try to follow. I am starting the garden pretty much from scratch so I can only afford perennials at the moment. You are right about the ivy and wildlife. When we moved here the garden was totally covered in ivy and there were literally hundreds of robins. At any one time you could see about four or five. I pulled masses of it off the old stone wall and the robins went beserk. Stupidly I continued and now we only get a normal amount of robins in the winter.

Thanks for all the suggestions and clear instructions. Look forward to uploading photos later in the year.

hethmar

We always have a lot of Robins and also the wrens nest in the ivy and I noticed we are getting a lot of long tailed tits (which I really love). Ivy is good for wildlife Oh and theres no need to pull it off - you may well damage your lovely stone walling. Just cutting it off at the base would have let it die off gently. (if you really must get rid of it)

Oh and you can grow a lot of the plants from seed dont forget! And OH had 100 pelargonian on the go this year from cuttings from the 10 we bought last year

Kyrae

Here's a photo of the pond I made, though it doesnt look quite so pretty at this time of year!! Glad to see frogspawn though!

http://i54.tinypic.com/nv9vdz.jpg

hostie

Thanks for the picture of the pond :T

I love the way you have it on big rocks. I´ll do that too. Off out to the garden now to plan it!

hostie

Yes, Hethmar I am going to try to grow things from seeds. In the past I haven´t had much luck as I often forget to water them or something... I´m not very green fingered really. I´m going to try again though as it will save me money. I´d also like to take cuttings but dont know what time of year is best for that. I´ll have to read up.

ERICS_MUM

Kyrae wrote: »

Here's a photo of the pond I made, though it doesnt look quite so pretty at this time of year!! Glad to see frogspawn though!

http://i54.tinypic.com/nv9vdz.jpg

hmmm, I've got just the spot for one like that ! Thanks for the idea :beer: