Living in a city often means dealing with a lack of space, particularly yard space. If you are lucky enough to have an outdoor space, but do not have access to land, this DIY wooden wine box planter might just provide the perfect solution.
Fern Richardson, author of Small-Space Container Gardens and writer of the site Life on the Balcony, explains:
My grandpa grew up in the Depression, during a time when you didn't throw things out until you had absolutely gotten every single possible use out of a thing. That sort of mentality has never left my Grandpa. He saves everything. Yogurt containers and kleenex boxes line his workshop, organizing all of his nails, screws, twine, and extra wooden chopsticks (among other things). One of the things I found in his stash was a wooden wine box...it has now been converted into container for lettuce and parsley.
Fern provides detailed instructions with photos that break the project down into simple, easy to follow steps.
Find the full instructions at Life on the Balcony.
(Images: Life on the Balcony)
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My question is: Where do you get wine crates? I cannot get them from anywhere! Costco says no, the liquor stores typically have cardboard boxes, instead of crates. It drives me nuts.
Also.... I use ammunition crates instead, that's also an idea.
@james, your local wine shops should have them, not liquor store, but wine shops. The problem is, they usually charge an arm and a leg..
What good is it to drill drainage holes in the wine crates if -- as pictured here -- you're just going to place them atop a flat surface which doesn't allow anywhere for the excess water to drain?
One reflection - I have these on my deck - is to use the sealer liberally. My boxes, despite 3 coats of seal, are starting to show some water damage around the nails. They are lovely though!
So this is perhaps a stupid question...but with all of these smaller/container type gardens, I see plants being placed pretty close together. But this isn't recommended, right? I mean, on the seed packets and the planting instructions for seedlings, most plants require much more space in order to thrive. Are these just staged photos where the plants are over-packed to create the image of lushness? Or can you actually have a flourishing and successful container garden with things as tightly planted as they are in the above image?
@JAMES GARDNER - I have the same problem. I can't find wine crates anywhere. Occasionally I'll find a box at a thrift store but in order to build shelving projects it's impossible. Maybe it's b/c I am in Canada but trying to find them at our local LCBO (Ontario) is like pulling teeth.
You can fine wine boxes on eBay easily. I've never tried CL but I bet you can find some there, and I recently scored one complete with lid (it's rare to get the lids) at a yard sale.
@laetitiae - Well, they're confined to containers, so they're limited in how far their roots can spread. Not all plants need a lot of space to thrive. I believe lettuce can be grown in relatively small containers.
I see a lot of lettuce in those containers and they would be fine in something that shallow. Look up gutter gardens.
Containers can hold more than you think for sure. Square-foot type boxes can be built so that they are only 6 inches deep. Along this line of thinking, I have had success planting things in containers using 1 gal=1sq/ft. So if you have smaller containers you plant less, but you get an idea about far they need.
Typically gardens are spaced out to allow for walking through rows to weed and such. This pushes down the soil, compacts it, and makes areas where roots can't actually spread. If you can make a garden that you don't have to walk through or in containers you can plant them according to these guidelines:
http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/plant-spacing/
@LAETITIAE--check out Square Foot Gardening for more details on plant spacing. Most seed packet instructions are assuming that you will be planting in rows in the ground with packed walking space between rows.
Sweet! Thanks for all the comments and the recommendation to check out square foot gardening. I think I may have to go plant a few more seedlings now. :)
I always worry about chemicals that may have been used to treat the wood, so thus far I've only planted non-edibles in wine boxes. Does anyone know whether I have reason to worry or not? thanks!
Yeah, I'd be worried about the same thing as Short And Sweets - what was that wood treated with?
I'd probably line the crates with a heavy gauge plastic, or use them as decorative sleeves and actually plant in ceramic or plastic pots.
Our local wine/liquor store has wooden wine crates (sans lids) for sale for $5 a pop.
I posted elsewhere on this site, If you happen to be in the SoCal area, I'd be more than happy to sell you some. I regularly supply these crates to the DIY'ers around me. Email me @ pickledandoiled@gmail.com Attn: Ashley. I'll send you some pics of what I currently have available!