How I Recycled 2 Wheelbarrows Into Beautiful Gardens

Just think about how people use things around the house to make gardens with.  Ever wonder how to do that?  It's easy if you have all the things that you need right in your own back yard.  Don't go buying things that you may already have sitting around collecting dust or spider webs.  Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose them

My Inspiration

Moving up to the west side of a mountain full of rocks, shale and roots gave me a chance for me to do what I love to do and that is gardening.  Only  what I have found was lots of roots and rock and shale in this ground that we have.  It is very difficult to work with.  Digging up the shale is difficult at best with a simple hand shovel.  All it seems to do is give you slivers of rock when you hit it or try to dig it up.  I spend a good half hour digging up a rock about the size of a soft ball one day.  Each time the I tried to dig a piece out I would only get a sliver out at a time.  The dirt or top soil as gardeners like to call it is only about 1/2 inch thick.  Not good for gardens.  Not the kinds that I wanted to make.  So the obvious way to make a garden is to raise them up with whatever we had/have on hand here.  

We aquired a couple of wheelbarrows and I gave my husband a couple of years to do something with them.  

Finally my husband couldn't stand those rusted wheel barrows sitting in back of the wood pile. They were missing some parts and it was too expensive to fix them and we had no funds to purchase new ones. He was trying to figure out a way to take them to the recycling center, but really couldn't fit them into the trunk of the car. I was watching one of my gardening shows and on one of them it was describing how to make planters out of various containers. Oh Ha! I got the idea of what to do with those old wheelbarrows! I was going to make them into gardens and this is how I did it.

This is the slope of our land.

Geography of Our Property

First let me say that my gardening is a bit difficult because of the slope and type of soil that we have. It is also difficult to grow anything that needs full sun for the entire day or that won't run off into the ravines and or small stream that runs behind our lot.  Many people think because of the leaves that drop every year and decompose into the soil that we have good top soil. We thought this too, but it is not so. When it rains and it can rain for many hours the water does not soak into the soil. We have about 1/2 inch at the most of top soil layering over shale and roots of trees. This is why I have many raised gardens and I have to buy dirt. Many gardeners think it is funny when I tell them that I have to BUY my Dirt. LOL

How I Made Gardens From Wheelbarrows

• First I dragged the wheel barrows to the part of the yard where I thought they would look nice.  Dragged because they had no wheels on them. I chose plants that would grow out and runneth over the sides.

• I cleaned them out of all spider webs and egg sacs.Then I drilled a few holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow so that the excess water could drain.
• After drilling the holes in the bottom, add some gravel for drainage. Top that off with some Garden Soil or Potting Soil and then arrange your plants and then plant them.I went to the store and bought some plants that I thought would look nice in them. I also love Primroses and had them at another time and my dog ran one day and in the process his lead that he was on sheared off the Primroses I had planted in an old cut down tree stump killing all my beautiful primroses. So I got some this time and planted them in the Red wheelbarrow.

For the black wheel barrow I decided to get Petunias, the WAVE to be exact as I know they will cover that wheelbarrow and then some. For a bit of an accent I also planted a Cork Screw Plant in the center of the petunias.

Results of my Labor

© Debra K. Allen a.k.a Lady Guinevere

I researched and wrote this article. Please do not copy and paste any part of this article, picture included for your own use. I will find you and report you for stealing.  It is my right to change any information therein at any time and/or change the location of my article.