… pots! Clay pots to be exact. Here’s the deal, our house is pier and beam with a concrete skirting. The internet dude came over and had to climb under the house to hook us up, and he let us know there were lots of pots under there! Free clay pots got me pretty excited and weeks later, after I’d gathered lots of courage and felt really brave, I crawled under our house and rescued the pots!
Here’s an instgram pic of me and my loot after my 1st rescue mission:
Andy did a second mission a few weeks later and discovered even more pots. We literally had 60+ pots hiding under our house. Jack pot, baby (no pun intended)! I kind of can’t believe I went under there. This is a creepy picture that reminds me of the wicked witch of the west and striped socks sticking out from under the house : /
So, the pots lived on the pathway you see in the above pics for about a month. I didn’t know what to do with them. Some are cracked and they’re all kind of the same small-ish size. Around the same time, the lilies I had transplanted into this bed started dying and turning brown and it was sad. AND there were lots of weeds growing in the bed and well, that’s no fun.
Here’s a quick visual history of my oh so exciting flower bed. We ripped out these 2 bushes:
Then I transplanted this mess and turned that bed into a salsa garden… (The arrow is pointing to a dangerous pot that made Andy bleed, we potted that sucker in the bed too. We think it was there to keep the pipes from freezing in the winter, since it’s SO cold in TX, ha!)
to here…
and then they bloomed and I loved them…
And then they all started dying. And worst of all, weeds were growing everywhere. Who wants to deal with weeds? Not this girl. So, in the midst of a weed pulling frenzy, I decided to throw all of my pots in the flower bed and hopefully squish the weeds so they won’t grow back. Smart, right? Will that work? Tell me yes, please : ) I left the few living lillie in the ground. But, see that dead brown thing, that’s what most of them looked like. Boo to dead lillies.
I went to Home Depot and bought some flowers. The goal was in expensive, healthy looking flowers that like partial sun. I got theses…
Andy helped me add dirt to all of my pots and plant the flowers…
I made some pots go sideways, and triple stacked a few, made cheerleader pyramids with some… all kinds of crazy pot things happening in this bed. I didn’t buy enough flowers, so I filled some pots with random plants from around the yard and a few with shells and rocks I had on hand.
I kind of love my potted bed. Bed of pots? Who plants pots, anyway? I like it, and I’ll LOVE it if the weeds will stay away.
Here are few more fun pics of the potted flower bed:
And here’s one more pic of the whole bed of pots:
Oh and here’s my other trick… I was so tired of going to the garage to get my spade and plow, so now they live at the end of the pot bed in a bucket I found under the house as well. See:
And there you have it… how to make a flower bed out of pots.
Have you ever had to crawl under your house? Have you ever found any treasures in your house. Ohh we also found these WW2 goodies in our cabinet! Have you ever potted pots in a flower bed? Do you think I’m nuts? Maybe don’t answer that ; )
The only thing that was under our old house (before we bought a house that is built on a slab) were spider crickets and the shut-off valve for the water line going to the fridge. I wish I’d found something cool like pots!
I think your potted bed is sooo cute!! How creative it is 🙂 Adding the garden art inside some of the pots is just genius! Oh and lilies are like tulips, they grow, bloom then die only to rise again next year twice as big! I hope you didn’t pull them up and toss them!
I did not pull up the lillies! Fingers crossed they all come back next year!
What a great founds !! What a creative way to use those pots !
That’s an awesome idea to create a flower bed! It looks really great, it’s definitely something I could imagine also for my own.
Love, Midsommarflicka
I am kind of in love with this idea! It looks so fun all stacked up.
Amanda, Glad you like it too 🙂
You are so clever and creative and most of all persistent ….nice job!!!!!!
Oh, I love what you did! Your garden is wonderful!! You are so brave.. I would never have gone under there. I am too big of a baby. LOL
Do you have anything in with your garden tools? My aunt used to keep sand mixed with oil in her pot to avoid the tools getting rust all over them. Just enough oil to moisten the sand. I Googled it, and the website said to use motor oil. (I thought Auntie used cooking oil, oh well..) The page I found said to use 40 pounds of Play Sand to a quart of motor oil. (Of course, I don’t think you will need quite that much..) Hope that helps:)
Pam, Thanks for the tip! I will have to look in to that! The one bad thing about my bucket is that water lingers in the bottom :/ I might have to find a new spot for my tools!
Why don’t you drill holes in the bottom of the bucket so the water drains out?
Wow – I love it!! It looks awesome!
You are brilliant and fabulous. When I grow up, I want to be just like you.
ha! Thanks, Erika 🙂
WOW!!! What a fun find! And, girl I cannot believe you crawled under your house… lol
I LOVE the pots in the bed – looks amazing! All I could think of when I saw the first picture was “How many Christmas soldiers could you make with al of those pots??” haha
Love it. xoxo
Achei lindo, mas eu tenho um cão que faria xixi nelas e as mataria. Minhas plantas precisam ser altas.
So super pretty!!! Still can’t believe u crawled under there!!! But score 🙂
I LOVE it! I’ve been trying to figure out something to go along the back edge of the pool. I do have a bunch of pots- I used to paint them. A bunch have faded but I didn’t want to throw them. I’ve got a bunch of decorative pots also. I think I’ll paint the ones that are unpainted and do something similar but with all the different ones. Oooh! I am so excited. Thank you for your wonderful idea.
This is so dang cool and what a great find!
I love it!
How brave of you to creep under your house, Jamie! And I love your creative take on a flower bed.
Lucky you to find so many pots! I could use some of those. I love what you did with them in your garden. Very creative!
If you still have trouble with weeds, you could try putting down some weed barrier fabric/plastic or an extra layer of mulch.
I think I definitely want to put down an extra layer of mulch! I think that helps with draining and water too, right?
That’s so fantastic! I wish I had a bunch of clay pots hiding under my house!
What a great idea. Love your cleaned up flower bed and all the pots.
I love this idea, Jamie!! The crawling under the house part? I am SO not that brave, haha!
Holy Pots Batman! That is quite a find and you are a stud for going under your house! Great idea on how to use them..super clever friend!
Awesome! That is crazy how many pots you had under the house! I love how you used them in the space. Here’s hoping your weed problem is gone!
Blessings,
Nici
I love the idea and it looks so great. I hate weeding and plant all my veggies in pots but I never thought to do that with flowers.
This is such a great idea! I love how it looks!
I hope you come link up with us at our ink up party!
I so don’t want to go under our house. The pest guy said that the ground was covered – COVERED – in dead ants. Eeww!
But I LOVE your pot garden. Hmm…potted garden. Anyway, I thought I would invite you to share this at my link party this week, because I think it’s totally awesome. Hope to see you there. http://www.gingerlymade.com/2013/08/show-tell-37.html
I absolutely love love this idea, so creative and a must do! I would love for you to share this over at my new link party Making Memories Mondays going on now!
Cathy
You are pretty brave climbing under your house! I love a pier and beam house..especially when you find treasure like your house was hiding! Aged terra cotta pots have so much character…and yours are perfect in your flower bed:) Visiting from DIY Sunday Showcase:)
you turned those treasures into a beautiful pot garden., Love this! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. xo
Lol. we don’t have anything that interesting under our house. Fun post! Hope your idea works out!
Thanks for linking up at #PureBlogLove Link Party. The party goes live every Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST. and runs through the week end. I’m hosting at http://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com. I’d love to see more of your great ideas at our party!
I LOVE THIS! Such a beautifully unique way to display flowers! Thanks for sharing over at Motivational Monday!
This is the cutest idea!! Love it!!! thank you for sharing at Share it One More Time…
Your flower bed is lovely! Very creative way to use all those pots. I like the idea of adding other items to some of the pots too. Like your shells and rocks.
Great post! Loving it! Pinned and tweeted. Thanks for being a part of our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7. Lou Lou Girls
So pretty! Thank you for sharing at Snickerdoodle. Love gardening!
What a fantastic spring project! Just wanted to let you know that I’m featuring it at our weekly link party. http://www.thelifeofjenniferdawn.com/2015/04/a-little-bird-told-me-link-party-134.html