Milk bottle hanging planters

Clever idea, Fran, and they look as if they will work better than the pouches I bought and planted up! Did you pierce the bottoms for drainage? And what plants have you put in them?

This is so good Fran.....I love it.

I had a couple of those planting tower plastic bag things, but was always worried about watering; would the bottom plants get enough without drowning the top ones?

I pierced the bottoms in four corners with an awl; not very big holes, but big enough. I put a small layer of bark at the bottom to help drainage and to stop the soil falling out, also to add some goodness to the soil as it breaks down.

I put various bits in: some unknown bulbs I found while digging the bed, a few geranium shoots, ditto forget-me-nots, even some sprigs of ornamental grass that got detached while repotting. Kind of mix-and-match.

Later I'l lplant some with herbs, small enough to be usefully handy - not sure if salad plants will fit, but only one way to find out.

I use milk bottles for labels too. Can't remember who started this fashion on GOY.

lol I read it on GoY - or was in on another "recycle" site? hadn't ever thought of it before. I need to cut mine bigger, to get bigger writing in, which I need.

This might be the answer for my Pallet Shelving. They are an arkward size for pots, which dry out so fast when tiny. But I could see something like this sitting on the shelves nicely...mmmm. Thanks Fran, I'll give it some thought.

Good bit of recycling there, I also cut mine up for labels, they also make good scoops for the Perlite and suchlike, you could paint them as well Fran if you wanted to be classy, cut the base off and stand them upside down in large pots and containers therefore directing the water to the roots, lots of uses for them....

@ CottageKaren - I've saved so many links for "pallet recycling" - there are a lot of "vertical garden" ideas!

Just tried Google - try putting in "pallet vertical garden" or "vertical planter" and you'll get so many hits - lol I just did!

@ Lincs - I used to put 2-pint ones in plant pots, right way up - piece the bottom and fill with water, then put the lid on so it wouldn't evaporate, it'd all go down to the roots. This meant i had to use a much larger pot than i would have othersise, with much more soil to pack it.

There ought to be a book in the making "Fran's great recycling ideas for your garden...

Are you recycling the shopping trolleys as well?

lol most of the ideas I come up with were actually come up with by someone else, i just adapt them and pass them on, though i have thought of a few all on my own. this is one, working from my prevoius mistake of cutting the bottle in half just under hte handle and using the base as storage; the handle bit wasn't enough to take a plant, i thought.

I do mean to recycle the trolley - came with me from the old place, someone had dumped it, and as it was the first "recovered" trolley taht had four wheels that all went in the same direction, I brought it with me. It's got a clipboard welded on, which gets in the ways, so i want it taken off, then i'll line it and make it a mobile planter.

We had 8 M&S trolleys abandoned on the one green patch in our street some time ago. I rang the trolley rescue service and they said How Many? Like the idea of the hanging bottles. Very ingenious Fran. I also took one of those wheely baskets back to M&S as well. My paper milk cartons fold flat for what I hope is recycling.

Where I used to live, in Bethnal Green, we'd often find trolleys by the communal bins or in the street; some had missing wheels, some otherwise damaged - some were full size ones, some smaller ones. Did have a couple at one time, but they were too deep for a garden, and besides, they didn't want to move in the direction you wanted to move them in - typical shopping trolley, sigh.

one of htem had braked wheels, the kind that won't roll outside the shop to stop them getting stolen, so how whoever took it had managed to get it so far from the shop named on its handle beats me - the only way it oculd be moved was to lift the front so that only the back wheels rolled. what's the point of nicking a trolley if you've got to half--carry it?!

I think I might have said that I walked down my street behind two younger able bodied ladies on either side of an M&S trolley with two bags of shopping therein. Each had a hand on the top of the cage, wheeling their burdens along as they chatted. As my house was still to be reached, I kept silent. Now I had a clue who was up to mischief. Probably their way of having a go at M&S by such noncholant blatant trolley pinching. Not usually damaged Fran. I did see one the other day with the coin slot damaged.

I can't beleive that two women would need assistance carrying two bags of shopping! It would never occur to me to pinch a trolley (even if it wasn't a magenetic-wheel-brake type) to get my shopping home - I always take a scarf so that i can tie the bag handles together and sling them over a shoulder. Okay, I did nick a trolley, but it was only one that had already been taken and abaondoned. don't know if that's any excuse in law, though.

Didn't mean to start a thread on trolley pinching! That's one thing we rarely see round here - possibly because the town's down by the river and most of the houses are up steep hills!

lol Stera, no probs. I can always claim that I was rescuing it, recycling and putting it to good use. I'd imagine that a few end up in the river, though; there used to be a regular haul from the local canal. maybe primitive man still needs to sacrifice to the water gods!