Saturday, May 5, 2012

Herbal Remedy


I have been growing herbs for years. I love walking out the door and grabbing bursts of flavor right from the deck, so each year the number of containers on my deck grows too. Now, I am running out of space for containers on my deck.

A simple solution would be to put a big pot of herbs in the middle of my hexagonal table, but we have an umbrella that runs up through the center of the table. So that idea is out . . . or is it????

The space in the center of my patio table recently started to really bug me. It's nearly impossible to pass things across the space, and with the umbrella, you really can't use the area for flowers, candles or etc. Ever since the middle-of-the-table problem crept into my mind, I have been determined to make the space useful. I decided to reclaim the space with a pot fresh herbs -- some how, some way.

Thus began the search for a large, low-profile and lightweight pot. I searched for a full month for the right one. Yesterday I finally found it; pushed behind other pots in the outdoor area of Lowe's garden center. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but it measures about 2 ft. across and about 10 in. high. To my amazement, it was only $7.00! I grabbed it and practically ran to the plumbing department for some PVC pipe. I found a 3 ft. length of 2 in. PVC for about $3.00. My total investment in this project -- a whopping $10.00.

When I got home, I took the PVC pipe and centered it in the bottom of the pot and traced around it. I took a straight edge razor and cut the circle out of the bottom to make way for the PVC pipe. Then I got my handy dandy hubby to cut the PVC pipe slightly longer than the height of my pot.


After my pieces were cut. I inserted the PVC pipe through the hole in the bottom of the pot and secured it with insulating foam sealant. You know, the kind that you use to fill cracks around pipes (like the one I was working with). We already had some on hand, so I had no extra expense to add to my project cost. But if you had to buy some, you could expect to pay about $5 - $10.



The foam kind of went everywhere because I lack a steady hand. I used a spackling knife to push the foam into the space between the pot and the pipe. I let that dry and cure for several hours.


When the sealant was dry and the PVC pipe secure to the bottom of the pot, I took it to the deck and began planting my herbs. I made certain to start with a lightweight filler for drainage on the bottom since there are no drainage holes in the pot. I stayed away from rocks or marbles because I did not want the weight on my glass table top. Instead, I went with wine corks.

I covered the bottom of my pot with about 2 in. worth of wine corks and I really think it is going to work well. If you aren't sure about cork, Walmart carries a product made of molded shredded rubber which sits on the bottom of the pot to provide drainage. I'm sure there are lots of other options like packing peanuts, so just use whatever lightweight material you have on hand.

You could also paint the pipe to match the container or umbrella pole if you wanted to, but when the plants and soil are in the pot, the white PVC tube really does not show.


After the herbs were potted, we centered the the container over the umbrella hole in the table and slipped the umbrella through all the holes and into the stand. The finished product turned out just as great as I imagined. I could not be happier.




For more great D-I-Y project ideas, check out these link parties:

4 comments:

  1. How clever, and it looks great too! So creative!
    Stacy

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  2. WOW, that was a super creative idea! Very clever thinking. Thanks for sharing your inspiration with the newbie party.

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  3. Hi Kim, what an awesome idea! I have so many of these pots and never thought of planting herbs in them. Necessity once again helps us to create. I found you over at the Newbie party and had to come by when I saw your link. If you'd like I'd love for you to link your inspiration to my Frugal Treasures Tuesday party. Have a good week!

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  4. This is unbelievable! Talk about utilizing lost space...you did it! I just had to pop by for a visit and I'm glad I did. I would love to follow but I don't see the button. Thanks so much for sharing!

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