Trash to Treasure ~ Making a Planter from a Milk Crate

By Janet Colvin (UniQueTreasures)
July 11, 2008

I've had so much fun creating this awesome milk crate planter today. It all started last week when Allison said that she'd been thinking about using a milk crate as one of those many holed planters... That set off a light bulb in my head! Hey now... I've got a couple of milk crates in my back yard. Read on and I'll show you how I made one of these great milk crate planters.

Trash to Treasure
Making a Planter from a Milk Crate

I can't stand to spend money on planters. They are too expensive and I'd rather recycle what I already have laying around the yard.

Recently, I wrote an article on a Many Holed Coleus Cutting Planter. Just before the article was published, I wrote to the gal that was the inspiration for the planter and she said she was thinking about trying out a milk crate, rather than drilling holes in an existing planter.

During that time, I was painting a bird cage to use in my yard as a focal structure. I saw a milk crate out of the corner of my eye and thought to myself, I already have the paint out, I'll just give it a coat of paint and then when I need it, it will be ready to use.

This is what the original milk crate planter looked like. Pretty hideous wasnt it?

By the end of that day, the "new" milk crate looked like this:

A few days have passed and I need to move some coleus from my Ostrich Topiary because I want to move the topiary into a full sun position. So I decided that now was the time to transplant the coleus into the milk crate.

I started out by cutting a square out of landscaping fabric that was the same size as the bottom of the milk crate. I placed it into the bottom to keep the soil from falling back out of the holes.

Once that was done, I moved the already rooted coleus (in clumps) from the ostrich basket to the milk crate. A few tips of the coleus broke off, so

Here is the final result. My new milk crate planter. Thank you Allison for this awesome idea!

Oh look. Here is another milk crate.

About Janet Colvin   Living in Southeast Texas, I have always enjoyed tropical plants and warm sunny weather. My gardening has become much more diverse and my plant collection has rapidly multiplied since joining the great folks at Dave's Garden. Working with my sister, we create unique copper garden art. I love to think outside of the box and can be found in the Coleus and Artisans Forum.

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Discussion about this article:

Subject Topic Starter Replies Views Last Post COLEUS AND DOWNY MILDEW thom4444 0 4 Jul 14, 2010 4:47 AM Updated Photo UniQueTreasures 0 48 Jul 20, 2008 2:30 PM Milk Crate nanavern3 1 17 Jul 16, 2008 10:59 AM milk crate jvdl1 3 33 Jul 15, 2008 3:07 AM Neat idea beebonnet 3 42 Jul 15, 2008 2:00 AM What a SWELL idea!!! morrigan 1 14 Jul 14, 2008 10:49 PM amazing onewish1 6 76 Jul 13, 2008 11:29 PM So simple libellule 1 42 Jul 11, 2008 11:21 AM

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