What’s a backyard makeover without flowers and plants?
We had empty space on either side of the porch in the back that seemed to beg for something pretty. Last month Julia and I planted veggie containers that have become such a fun addition to our yard. We spend evenings watering and talking about veggies, so we knew we wanted to add more. Plus, I’ve been dreaming of flowers.
The two space are about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. Pots or boxes that size that are meant for plants were a lot more money than we wanted to spend. Our solution? Farm-style water troughs from Tractor Supply. I was way more excited that I should’ve been to bring these home in the back of my car. They took over the entire back seat and got everything grossly dirty. But I don’t care. They’re awesome.
I drilled hols in the bottom of each trough for drainage and filled them with a combination of dirt we’d dug from our future patio site and some bags of cow manure-rich dirt I’d bought in bags.
In the veggie trough, I transplanted our tomatoes, two types of basil, rosemary, and thyme. And I added cucumbers, red peppers, banana peppers, and mint.
I went flower crazy in the other planter and included all kinds of blooms that thrive in the sunshine since these planters are exposed to the sun from about noon until sunset: Russian sage, verbena, bee balm, vinca, pentas, and first love Veronica. I let Julia choose the colors, so everything is either pink or purple, as you might expect from an almost-3-year-old girly girl.
Oh… I love this! My husband just got done telling me he does not have the time to build a wood one, this is perfect:)
Ha! I heard the same thing from my husband. I thought these were really cool too. And you could paint the sides with chalkboard paint and label your plants that way or let the kids decorate.