Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Wheel Barrel Impatients

Retired Wheel Barrel


Here is an old wheel barrel of ours that we've converted into a planter. We acquired the wheel barrel from someones trash, well actually JoAnne picked it up at my request. She had a little Ford Contour and was able to get this bad boy stuffed into her trunk. It did a little damage to some of the paint on her car but doesn't matter at this point because we no longer have the car.

The location where this wheel barrel sits gets morning sun and then all shade for the remainder of the day, which is idle for the Impatients we have planted in it. It's high enough so the woodland critters can't reach the plants and eat them. The Impatients we planted in the ground in this area didn't last long; the wild rabbits loved them.

Perhaps, we'll try planting some different flowers in the wheel barrel next year or stick with what we know works. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

4 comments:

Silvia said...

Beautiful flowers! Did you drill any holes in the bottom? I'm using a small trailer that we used to pull behind our mower as a compost bin. It has a couple holes alreayd, so I just have it tilted in that direction for drainage. And I put an old window screen on top to try to discourage our dog and other animals from investigating.

SmF732 said...

Yes Silvia, I drilled about a half dozen holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain.

Good use for an old trailer. However, how do the worms get in to help with the composting? Our compost bin, which is made of wire and 2x4's sits directly on the ground. I will occasionally turn the contents to mix them up good. It's always loaded with nice, plumb, juice worms too when mixed.

Silvia said...

Hadn't thought about the worms. Hmmm. But I've seen composters that look like barrels and you spin them--do they add worms? Do the worms get dizzy? :)

SmF732 said...

You're right about the composters, I would doubt worms are added. I guess they're not really needed, however, I bet they make a BIG difference in the composting process. Perhaps, they're not added because they'll get sick with all the spinning and turning...