Do you love the look of using upcycled items in your garden?
Sure, anybody can do your basic store bought flower pots and mass produced hanging baskets. And honestly, I've done that on occasion too.
But to run across a little bit of whimsy and something unexpected in a garden?
THAT is special. THAT makes makes me smile!
Plus it's super thrifty, eco-friendly and FUN to upcycle common, slightly boring household objects for the garden.
Over the years I have added more and more pieces of yard art and repurposed planters into my flower beds. It started with a spur of the moment idea to glue some pennies onto a bowling ball and has morphed into me dragging home a heavier than I thought it was sink from the Habitat Restore store to use as a planter (that one is super new, so no pictures of that one yet).
Not sure where to start? I've collected some great repurposed garden projects from around the web with a few of mine thrown in for good measure.
Upcyled Garden Ideas
Upcycled Chair Planter
These curb side finds turned out to be pretty cute planters!
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Junk Garden Planter
Carlene is pretty much the queen of junk gardening. If you have a chance go over and check out her garden tours!
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Upcycled Garden Tool Organizer
A fun way to repurpose a 1970's wooden mail organizer. It's great to hang by the back door and fill with your most used garden tools so you can just grab what you need on the way to the flower bed.
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Seed Spreader Garden Planter
This is one of my favorite projects from last spring. I flipped out when I saw this aqua seed spreader at a local and just had to have it for the yard!
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DIY Bird Feeder Form Vintage Snack Set
A cute use for all those snack sets you practically trip over at the thrift stores (seriously, there's at least 20 at every thrift store I walk into).
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Upcycled License Plate Planter
Well how cute is this planter made out of a license plate!!! Plus she's got a great detailed tutorial on how to make your own!
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Repurposed Toy Truck Planter
A few years ago I found a rusty old toy truck at a yard sale and decided to give it new life as a planter.
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Lampshade Frame Vertical Garden
This is a great use of all those lampshades you find at the thrift store!
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Outdoor Metal Stand Update
Updating a wrought iron bakers rack into a fun and colorful stand for the porch!
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Vintage Galvanized Planters
This is just one of the galvanized pieces she has repurposed into planters at her home and she shows the rest in this blog post.
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Penny Bowling Ball Yard Art
This is one of my very first posts (as you can tell from the photos), but one of my most searched for on Google - how to create a piece of yard art with a bowling ball and pennies.
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DIY Potting Bench With Sink
This potting bench started life as an outdoor storage bench. Like the kind you'd put kid's toys or patio chair cushions in. Now it's a handy dandy potting bench!
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Upcycled Bathroom Light Planter
TONS of bathroom light fixtures can be found at thrift stores or Habitat stores. This is a great way to upcycle one into a fun, colorful hanging planter.
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Succulent Log Planter
The secret to this project is I used a bonfire log to make the planter! And to think this idea came to me in the middle of the aisle at Home Depot.
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Repurposed Stair Railing
Stair railing makes a great trellis for your climbing vegetables!
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DIY Hummingbird Feeder Station
This upcycled chandelier make a perfect and colorful hummingbird station!
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Colander Planter With Silverware Wind Chimes
Not only do you have a colander repurposed as a planter, but I show you how to make wind chimes out of thrifted silverware.
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Frying Pan Plant Markers
I never would have thought to use frying pans as plant markers, but it's quite ingenious.
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Tipped Wheelbarrow Planter
This is a cute way to use an old wheelbarrow to pretty up the garden.
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Upcycled Garden Center Plastic Pots
You know those cheap, flimsy pots your plants come in at the garden center? They don't have to stay that way!
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Tomato Cage Bottle Tree
This project gives you an excuse to go out and drink a lot of wine or in my case beer. In order to get enough bottles for the bottle tree of course.
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Repurposed Shoe Planter
Y'all can't tell me you don't have a shoe in your closet to make into a cute planter! This would be super quick and easy to do!
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Repurposed Cinder Black Planter
I love when you can take something so ordinary as a cinder block and make it into something so cute!
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Upcycled Planters From The Kitchen
Shelley uses all sort of upcycled kitchenware in her edibles garden.
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View the web story version of this article HERE.
New For Spring 2021:
Sue Shepard
Thank you Pam. We needed some inspiration and beauty in our lives with what all is going on all over the world. Thank you for sharing.
Pam Kessler
You are welcome!!!
Becky
The Seed Spreader Garden Planter is gorgeous. What kind of Purple plant or name of Purple plant is in box planter behind the Seed Spreader?
Pam Kessler
It's Lobelia. It is an annual and was one of the Techno Heat varieties which do very well in hotter weather (earlier varieties tended to quit blooming and would look leggy in July, these newer ones will last all summer long). They come in a lot of shades of blue, a few pinks and then white.
Tiena Nobles
Thank you for all of the great ideas you share!! I smiled at the penny bowling ball. I did one with my grandson and all of the pennies popped off!! I should have used better glue for our northern climate! Anyway I love your ideas!
Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces
So many wonderful ideas...I can hardly wait to get outside in the garden! Hope you and your family are staying well!
Meegan
There are so many incredible and creative ideas! Thanks for including my shoe garden idea.
carol
love your garden spreader flower pot - I have a old lawn mower that I want to turn into a flower pot hope it comes out as cute as that
Marty
Digging out some old tomato wires now, love the bottle tree made easy.
Oona
Many of these ideas feature planters made of metal. I repainted an old wheel barrel . It was cute full flowers . But later in Spring, when it got warmer, metal amplified the heat and fried the contents. I recommend metal only for shady locations.
Anne Burgess
Wonderful ideas thanks very much best regards Anne
Dee Bell
So many good ideas! Thank you
Carol
My daughter had male neighbor who had a very different idea about unusual planters. He took oversized bras, filled them with dirt and plants and hung them on his fence. Strange...
Leanne
Hey. I love your work. This should really be made something more than a trend. Its saving the planet and I thing will evolve. I tried starting my own blog on much similar ideas. Shine on.x
Manon
I love your ideas !