I’ve had two of these Five Ways Fruit Farms crates for a few years now and never really done anything with them. But when I was at the garden centre a couple of weeks ago I picked up some Primulas in pots and decided that one of them would look good in one of the crates. From there I built around the primula and now I have a rather neat container garden going with all sorts growing.
I started, last week before the rain came, with a crate.
I lined it with a bin liner, tearing some holes in to the bottom of it so the water can drain and stapled the bin liner to the sides of the crate.
I added some gravel.
And a small amount of soil to the bottom.
At this point I recommend that you move the crate to where you want it to end up as they can get very heavy.
I started by adding the potted Primula to one corner of the crate.
These beautiful things are fast becoming a favourite of mine.
I then added a thyme plant, that I had bought from the supermarket and was outgrowing its pot, to the opposite corner so it wasn’t hidden by the height of the Primula.
I also added a cutting form some sedum that I had in a pot, a small dahlia and a small foxglove that I dug up from the garden. I replanted them all and added some well rotted compost. There isn’t a huge amount of room in the crate, despite it being fairly deep, so the primula was the largest and most established plant I used. It was also the tallest and largest which is why I put that in first and then built the rest of this mini garden around it.
We have rather a lot of moss on our roof which falls off in large soggy clumps when it rains. So I picked the fellas up from the drive and put them over the top of the earth in the crate and then filled in those gaps with gravel.
I even put a small clump of moss just inside the handle at the front. It’s a nice little trick and gives the impression that my container garden is flourishing. Which I hope it shall.
And here it is from behind, sitting nicely on the wall. I’ll push it back slightly to make it more secure and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’ll come on when the weather warms up.
I should warn you that when they are complete they can be very heavy. So if you decide to make one of these as a gift for someone (I think gifting them is a fantastic idea by the way and having seen them for sale for a great deal of money I think they are PERFECT) then decide how you’ll transport it and if you’ll need help to do so.
And don’t just stick to the flowers I have chosen, you could grow sweet peas, broad beans, wild flowers, even a rose. In fact anything that will do well in a pot. Choose different heights and plan them accordingly.
A container such as old crate adds interest to the garden and some structure to this corner in particular.
Another garden nook, sorted!
I love you and thank you so much for reading today.
Cherry x
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Totally agree. I made a herb garden in my wooden crate earlier in the year and I still love the way it looks
Such a simple but really effective idea. Thank you for sharing it with us. I wish the weather would warm up. I have lots of planting to do but I don’t do cold weather gardening.
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hi cherry
I bought some crates in the cotswolds some years ago, and I too use a flat varnish inside and out and they withstand the snow, rain and heat year after year. they get used in many ways, full of ice keeping drinks and bottles cold for parties, I put plants in them in summer, i keep them in the pots tho…and decorated for christmas with lights and baubles with a small tree, endless…timeless..and my favourite vintage!
love to all
jacqueline
ps if you ever want to sell the small fire grate you showed last week…me me me me ME!!!! PLEASE… XXX
I noticed that your house is all painted in white!! Are you going to show us some photos of it? It must look wonderful. The crate is lovely.
Thank you so much Margaret – I was devastated when my crates disintegrated… Next time I find some I will know what to do!
Hi Cherry
Lovely photos as always and a great idea! I bought a wooden crate like this a few years back from my local garden centre and I’ve grown herbs, tomatoes, daffodils in it and this summer it’s full of geraniums. I love their rusticy-ness!! Georgina – I treated mine with Cuprinol clear wood preserver which is for interior and exterior use, it’s like a clear liquid and I gave it a couple of coats and my crate is still very much intact.
Perfect for Fathers’ Day. June 17th. This Sunday in fact. Aaaargh
Very clever garden! I adore wooden boxes. Just yesterday I saw on Pinterest wooden boxes such as your’s, turned upside down on a picnic blanket, used as a make shift table. It’s a brilliant notion, packing them full of picnic supplies then throwing a cute tea towel over to set things up off the ground.
It looks amazingly wonderful. I will try this for our garden but, I wish I can find different flowers like these in Turkey. All of them are so beautiful.
I was really pleased to see this post this morning as my garden has very little in the way of plants and I am loathe to plant any as I am currently renting so this is the perfect solution and I can take them with me when I eventually leave!
Fab idea Cherry – thank you,I bet it would be perfect for a herb box too.
Hi Cherry,
It looks beautiful – one question, do you have any tips for keeping the crate weatherproof? I tried this a couple of years ago, but the crates disintegrated after a few months left out in the garden.
Love your blog, you inspired me to start my own… http://loverichcashpoor.wordpress.com
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very pretty.
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