Modern planters can be costly and can take up a lot of space in a small yard. If you're looking for something affordable with clean lines and some height, try looking towards the sewer, well, sewer pipes that is.
Even though terra cotta seems like the old standby in the garden, when used in an unusual shape it brings a new feeling to a tired space. These tubes are sunk in the ground, filled half way with rock and then with soil. Plant what you like and watch it take hold.
Use it behind your regular gardens, as borders or in tiny nooks, or even on decks and patios. Try filling one end (making sure to leave a hole for drainage) and then binding a few together with rope or tie downs intended to keep things on the top of your car. It's the garden you can dismantle and take with you or a raised bed that doesn't require a truck to haul home.
These clay or terra cotta sewer pipes are still used (though not as frequently) around the country. Check with local hardware stores and plumbing retailers to find a distributor near you. Likewise, you can watch Craigslist and freecycle for folks who are doing a bit of demo!
• See more: Mo Zone and Sunset Magazine
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I don't know, those first ones make me want to play Mario Brothers...
They remind me bit of chimney pots used as planters. I bet they're more frost-resistant than the average plant pot too! I once had to break it to an old man. who lived near an area with a history of Roman occupation, that the large fragment of brown, glazed pottery was not part of some ancient artifact but was actually a piece of 20th century sewer pipe. Poor guy.