I have this old wheelbarrow that I haven't used in years, just taking up space in my gardening shed. Today I decided to do something with it.
The first thing I decided was where I was going to put it. I didn't want to move it after I planted it and I needed to know how much sun it would be getting before I decided on the plants I was going to use. Then I used a big nail to make some drainage holes in the bottom. I covered the holes with a few small rocks so that the water would drain out and the holes wouldn't get plugged with the soil.
Next, I added potting soil. One 2 cubic foot bag filled it perfectly. I arranged the plants the way I thought they looked best, then I planted them. Voila! Now my wheelbarrow will be used everyday.
In this planting I thought it looked best to have the tallest plants about 3/4ths of the way back, 2 different varieties of medium height plants in front of that (orange bulbine and purple pentas), and finally trailing plants in the very front and coming off the side. I also planted some trailing Lantana behind the tallest plants to fill in the back and to have something hanging down back there too. Whenever I choose plants, the first thing I decide is the color combination I want to use. In this case it's purple and orange with green. I love the vibrancy of this combo. Then I find plants suitable for the location in the colors I like. I make sure that the sizes vary as well as the textures because that makes it much more interesting to look at. It looks good now, but in a few weeks when the plants start filling in and blooming, it will look even better. I'll try to remember to post another picture then.
Lynn
