Not many of us have old and unused cars lying around our yards, but look how amazing this car becomes when it takes on the job of a planter! This is certainly taking the idea of reuse and recycle to another level. And while AT has certainly seen its share of unusual and cute planters, this one might just take the cake.
Look: An Old Car Planter
Austin
I love the look of terracotta and ceramic pots and what they add to an outdoor space, but I really enjoy using unprotected metal in a garden. Allowing the planter to rust and change along with your plants is really dynamic! And since most people probably don't have access to old cars, other unique items like old wheelbarrows could be used to create the same rusted-over-time effect. This particular car planter can be found behind the Planet K Texas gift store and the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture on South Lamar.
What do you think? Would you ever use an old car or other old metal item as a planter? Do you have any ideas for what else could be used?
Comments (16)
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Is this a joke? This is totally tacky and trashy. The animal scat in the second shot really takes it over the top.
view farmhousemoderne's profile
Unusual? Certainly.
Cute? Hardly.
It would have been better off sent to the scrapyard for recycling.
view bepsf's profile
horrible. that cactus is amazing, though.
view amt230's profile
I hate rusty metal crap in the garden. This is amusing, but only for a second. Austin seems to be an counterpoint to actual design.
view Palmetto's profile
I think the 'animal scat' is actually decorative terra cotta beads....correct me if I'm wrong.
And I agree with the other posters - I definitely wouldn't want this on my property (or even in my neighborhood). The cacti/suculents are lovely, though.
view Grumpy Girl's profile
This is the realization of an old Jeff Foxworthy redneck joke: "If you find a car when you mow your lawn ..."
view madampince's profile
Having lived in one of our barrios in Tucson, I learned to love rusty crap in the garden--there is a "barrio garden," with its unique aesthetic, included in our Botanical Gardens. But I stopped short of planting the rusting model T I found in the backyard of my house and had it hauled away.
view jen_g's profile
oh. my.
view Cassis's profile
I find that top photo odd. I am used to plants that look like that to be about 6 inches tall, so to me it looks like a matchbook car.
I am in Toronto, where cacti stay indoors, even in the summer.
view peacelily's profile
What is with all the Egads-why-I-never comments? Ladies, don't choke on your cucumber sandwiches. This kind of stuff is all over the Southwest. Maybe it would be weird in Newport, but haven't you ever seen the flag of Texas? It's just got the Alamo and an old car full of cactus on it.
Anyway, I'm not loving the overall look in the top photo. Nix the graffiti and put that junk in front of a solid red house and I'm totally in.
view little ribbons's profile
Well, I LOVE it! But then, I'm from Brownsville and I live in Austin.
view csaustin's profile
Reminds me of the car in Kensington Market in Toronto. It's permanently parked on the street and has lots of plants growing on it. The city towed it last year and everyone was (rightfully) PISSED. Now its back and everyone is happy.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Eco_Car_in_Kensington.jpg
view KatieCh's profile
We bought some land that has a cute little Ranchero rusting away and I've thought of something like this. But I have a fantasy that Neil Young will someday want to restore it and we'll give it to him for a song. I've read that he likes to save old junkers.
view Kate (NC)'s profile
this is gross. its not recycling at all, its turning your yard into a landfill. The responsible thing to do would be to have the car turned into scrap metal, which is then actually melted and turned into new products. This just looks like a pile of rusting shit.
view nordicfreak's profile
Hideous lawn garbage.
view Griffin's profile
I live in Austin and while junk like this is a part of the whole "Keep Austin Weird" vibe in certain parts of town, this "planter" by no means defines Austin design. Austin is NOT, as Palmetto states "a counterpoint to actual design". Quite the contrary, Austin is a vibrant city full of beautiful homes and creative people. By the way, I think the car/cactus combo is awful.
view Tinkums's profile