Serendipity Gardens by Carol Hegel Lang

This time of the year I start thinking about flea markets, garage sales and all of the wonderful things you can find to repurpose for your gardens. They even have magazines dedicated to just that. You can find some great ideas on remaking something into a wonderful piece for your gardens. I have been collecting old milk or cream cans the past few years, take the tops off and then plant flowers in them to add height in my gardens. Fill the can about three quarters of the way with discarded planting flower packs or empty plastic bottles so you don’t have to use so much potting soil. Then make sure you put a drainage hole or two in the bottom.

Coal buckets are used to put flowers in among the perennials in the gardens as well as old metal buckets or enamel ones. I have several teapots that I plant with rambling plants that cascade down the sides of them and I put them on tables that I have in the garden. Large tubs that were often used for laundry many years ago also make great containers. I have two of them stacked on top of each other with yet another container that I plant with lots of different flowers perched on top of it so that they stand above everything else in this garden.

Many years ago we found an old farm pump and painted it black. We used bricks all around it to make a small area where I could use many containers to sit and make a statement. This little garden area has become a focal point over the past couple of years and sits in between two other small gardens. Last year, I elevated an old enamel pot filled with begonias to sit atop cement blocks giving it more height and to make it really standout. This garden really turned out beautiful and I will plan on doing the same thing this year in that small area.

Using old chairs and then putting flowers in the middle where the seat previously was can add a focal point almost anywhere in your garden. You may have to fasten the planting container in there with a piece or two of wood so that it will stay put if the seat is broken. A couple of years ago I found the cutest small metal chair. Early spring I will fill one of the teapots with tulips or pansies and place it on the seat. Then I move the chair to a part of the garden where I can see it from the house. What a lovely sight it makes.

Last year, I took an old window that didn’t have any glass in it and put a mirror in and then I hung it on the fence. When you look at it you will see the garden behind you and it appears you are looking through a window at another garden in front of you. You have to try this one, it is really awesome.

Old shoes and boots make very cute planters for either alyssum or hen and chicks and can sit in front of perennials in the gardens to add even more color and interest. If you have some broken dishes they can be used in many ways as borders for the garden or as bird feeders.  Glass items that are colored are great for decorating pieces and when the lights hits them the colors bounce off them. Many people make bottle trees using colored bottles and then a metal tree that you hang them on. I like this idea because you can go with multi-colored or all one color with the bottles.

Old toys can also be repurposed as planters to just add whimsy or you can plant flowers in them. Personally, I like anything that is old and rusty because it adds character to the gardens. Rusty metal signs can be hung on the side of a building or on a fence and you can go with a theme if you like.

“A day comes in springtime when Earth puts forth her powers, casts off bonds of winter and lights him hence with flowers…” — Dora Read Goodale

 

Carol Hegel Lang is a green thumb residing in Albert Lea. Her column appears weekly. Email her at carolhegellang@gmail.com.