Trio Tin Can Planter Project

I have been a busy boy! Making things, from trash and this is another project I recently finished. A trio of vertical tin can planters. The idea came to me after seeing a similar projects on Pinterest made with terracotta pots that sat in wooden rests and suspended vertically.I thought they were great and wanted to make my own. However I neither had the required pots or tools to make them. So like a good upcycler I thought about what materials I could get a hold off. 

To make this you will need.......

Three large tin cans (I sourced these from my work, they are around 3 litres in size)
Three hanging basket chains (I bought these for about 75p from a local garden shop)
Two M8 marine bolts with nuts and washers (the most expensive part of this if you find a cheaper part that's great)
A drill and metal drill bits
Electrical wire snips
And Paint!!

To Build.....

Clean your tins inside and out in hot soapy water
Lightly sand the surface you are going to paint and wipe with a damp cloth
Drill your holes,you will need to drill one hole slightly bigger than the M8 bolt in the centre base of two cans, three small hole around the rim of the can for the chain clips, I did this by eye it doesn't need to be perfect. and finally drainage holes.
Attach your M8 marine bolts a washers on either side and tighten up.
Paint your cans, I used spray paint that I had in the shed hence the random nature of the colours.
Attach your hanging basket chains, I shortened mine to 12 links as they were far to long, to do this just count the amount of links you would like for the desired length, move the clip to that link and if it looks right snip of the excess with the wire snips.
Finally plant up!! My trio is going to be in an almost full shade part of my yard thus ferns will be going in when I get some.

Re-purpose in the Garden, Its Fun and Creative

One of the reasons I love gardening is the opportunity to be creative, whether that is arranging plants in the garden or building something that is of use in it. Since I started I have never been flush with money and my childhood in my parents garden was a lesson in creativity to make the most of what we had. Of course I go out and buy a few treats here and there but often I am reusing, re-purposing or upcycling something for the garden. Here are a few things that I have been doing over the last few months...

Tin Can Hanging Basket, I luckily work in a place were I can often find objects of use that normally I would not get my hands on and very large tin cans is one of them. Last year I bought some cheap frame green hanging baskets and the looked awful when the lining mat discoloured and fell apart. Because of this I thought I would just use the baskets as cloches to protect my plants, which left all the chains spare. So I attached them up with the cans and here it is.

Wooden Planter made from off cuts from a building project. I surprised myself with its neatness, I really didn't think I could anything like that well.

 

Garden Theatre/Station, banged together from some old pallets I had collected. This took me a little while to build and finish as I did not plan it I just built as I went, my skills as a joiner or carpenter are rather limited so again I was rather chuffed with this.

Garden Stand, this is an unused glass TV stand that had been hogging up vital space in my shed for over a year and a half until my partner thought it could be used in the garden. I'm just glad to have it out of the shed to be honest, but I think it works. Currently hold some of the shade loving plants I have.

These are just a few things I have done recently and I guess they are not that creative but they really have a use in the garden. Your garden is about you and I feel one of the best ways to show that is to create your own things to go in it,repurposing allows you to try without the worry of cost. And if it doesnt work it does not matter what ever it was was probably going to the Tip at some point anyway!!