My house has a lot of shade, and while when it is hot outside this has been a real blessing the one thing that I hate about it is that I can’t seem to get a very large garden. Well at least not one the size that I want. So this last winter, which lasted it seems all the way until the end of May, I have been researching how to maximize the the use of the space that I have. One of the things that caught my eye are those Topsy Turvy planters. Problem is that they are way to expensive for my taste. I mean $10-$15 each on line. So instead of buying them I figured that I would make my own. I built 5 of them for less than $15.
I made mine out of 5 gal. buckets from Home Depot. I then cut a 2″ hole out of the bottom center of the bucket. I used a hole saw to cut out the 2″ opening. If you don’t have one of them, thats ok because the smallest center circle on the bottom of the bucket is about 2″ in diameter. Next you need to get some of the weed gaurd fabric. Get the kind that allows water to flow threw, but not the weeds. this will allow the water to drain out, but keep the dirt in, and thats a good thing.
As you can see the bucket on the left has the weed fabric covering the whole, while the one on right doesn’t, and the dirt is falling out. So be sure to put it in the bottom. Then I made a ring out of a “T” and 1/4 diameter soaker hose, so that I can hook it up to a water timer. The soaker hose ring will allow it to evenly water the entire area with out flooding the bucket.
So now I have 5 buckets all hanging from my eves. The buckets cost me less than $2.50 each, the soaker hose was $10 for 50 feet (but I only used maybe 5 feet), and then I needed another 2 hooks and the were $1 each. So the cost for the project, was about $25, but the cost of the for what I actually used was only about $15. That would be same as buying one of the Topsy Turvy planters.
So now we wait to see if they will really grow and how they do. Stay tuned as I post updates on how the plants have been doing and whether it was a success.
