RE-purpose your Pots & Planters

Fresh ideas on re-purposing and re-using those pots/planters and containers sitting around the house and garden since winter!

All of us have received over the past months/years beautiful planted arrangements as gifts! Whilst they make fantastic gifts, as they last quite a long time, a lot of you were at a loss as to what to do with the containers once the flowers or plants had died off. Well fear not, we have a few tricks and tips for you!

The most common query we get is what to do with orchids once they are finished? The easiest solution is to replace the orchid plant in the ceramic pot. Remove the older orchid plant to a window sill (somewhere out of the way as they are not the prettiest of sights once finished flowering!) and ignore them until a new shoot appears! They do NOT need to be cut back unless the green stem has turned hard and twig like. If the stem is still green, new shoots may come from it so removing it will only mean a longer time between flowerings! They also only need a drop of water every 4-6 weeks during this dormant time.

Over Christmas we had fabulous wooden trays filled with bulbs and tealights! The bulbs can now be planted out in beds and will come back to life next Winter/ Spring. Alternatively, wrap the bulbs in newspaper and store them in a dark dry place until ready to plant into pots next October in time for Christmas. The wooden trays make the perfect vessel for a succulent or cactus garden! A few little plants with some stones and moss for decoration will give you year long enjoyment indoors. We can also create this for you in store should you wish to bring the tray to us!

These wooden trays look great filled with decorative stones/pebbles/shells with candles of varying heights and thickness nestled within the stones. Lovely in a bathroom or conservatory. You could also paint them to compliment existing decor, with a little tester pot of paint. No excuse not to use them really!!!!

For wooden trugs and boxes, these are perfect for planting herbs! Ideal for the kitchen window, indoors or outside. The more you use the herbs the faster they will grow. The herbs will also benefit from a drop of organic fertilizer each month to replace lost nutrients in the soil. We have a full selection of Irish Potted Herbs in stock throughout the summer.

Over the years I myself have gathered quite the collection of pots that are gathering dust in a crate in my shed. So this year I’ve decided to root them out , give them a good scrub and create a little display on my deck! Its a simple inexpensive idea that can have great impact. I will be using 6 pack bedding violas, and planting them in groups, but any bedding plant would do (ie. geranium, pansies, nasturtiums, lobelia to name a few). Keeping to the one flower in various colours for maximum visual impact.

Feel free to send us some snaps of your creations ! We would love to see what you come up with! Or let us know your ideas, hints and tips, share the knowledge folks;)

Happy planting. Happy spring.

A x