Peppermint Planter {Self-Watering}

I love my little corner patch! It's finally filling in and producing fruit and flowers!

I did a bad thing! I knew I shouldn't plant peppermint in the ground because it spreads and can be very invasive... but I did it anyway. 

I had it blocked off thinking I could keep it under control... but that wasn't the case.

It spread through the gravel...

it spread into our raspberries...

it spread into our oregano...

it spread everywhere!

And the bad thing was... I knew better!

SO... it was time for a new plan...

I dug it all up... 

I tried to get every piece of root... because if not it just keeps growing...

I laid down plastic

 to keep the peppermint and the weeds from growing...

and we spread more gravel.

.........................

I still wanted a peppermint patch...

but it had to be contained so it wouldn't spread.

I love these Self-Watering planters!

They are amazingly easy!!

They take a little work to build... but they are very very worth it!

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- I bought a trough from Tractor Supply

if you get a trough you don't have to line it with plastic because it already holds water

- I used plant containers for the water reservoir 

(the water reservoir is about 10 inches deep)

- drilled the hole and put in the drain pipe

(the drain pipe keeps the planter from becoming soggy)

- put containers with holes in for the wicks (the wicks suck up the water)

- put a fill pipe down one side with holes in the bottom 

(don't forget to cap it to keep it clean, this fills your water reservoir)

- line the wicks and top with weed fabric 

(this keeps the soil from falling down into the water reservoir)

- fill with soil

- plant your plants

- water really good for a couple weeks until your plants are established

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(if you need help figuring out how to put this together

search it on google,

there are so many great diagrams and videos to show you how)

I only have to fill it with water once or twice a month.

It's so easy to take care of!

Now I love my peppermint!!

Self-Watering Strawberry Planter {Wicking Bed}... UPDATE

Have you ever heard of a Wicking Bed? 

I hadn't until last summer and they are amazing! 

A wicking bed is a raised bed that has a water reservoir in the bottom that slowly wicks up water into the soil to water your plants. So you don't have to water your raised beds every day. Who doesn't like less watering! 

Retaining Wall {UPDATE}

Summer is winding down and its time to get a few things done before it gets cold outside...

I know this isn't something I normally share but I'm really excited about this project!

Well I got a huge surprise a couple Saturdays ago when I thought we'd be working on some projects my Husband wanted to get done... instead he got the tractor and we started digging out the section of lawn between our house and shop.

Its been a sloped mess since we moved in 6 years ago... it's to steep to walk down, hard to mow and we can only keep patches of grass alive. We've talked about changing it for a while but I thought it was on the bottom of our project list.

So, I was really surprised when he started digging out the sod... and we got another surprise when as we dug out the grass we found a lot of large flat stones.

Climbing Trellis

 
I have killed this Virginia Creeper so many times I can't even count... but it has a will to live!

This year I decided I would give it somewhere to go so it was out of the way...

And I wish I would've done this sooner!

I really like the way it looks and shades our front door.

 I'm not sure how well it will stay trailing up the trellis but so far its doing great. 

I'm hoping I can get it to sweep forward around the awning and stay off the house. 

We used a couple strips of cow panel and some small clips to screw the cow panel to the house. (The cow panel is galvanized so hopefully it won't rust and make a mess on the house. 

I love vines and greenery!

Enjoy your summer!

Self-Watering Planter for Back Porch

Self-watering planters are the best thing to happen to outdoor gardening!

When I first learned about these I was so excited but also a little skeptical that they would work where we are because we live in the mountains at a very high elevation.  

But I built one last year that worked perfect and the strawberries I had in it came back and grew wonderful the 2nd year.... so far so good.

And... I've been wanting to try a blackberry bush in a planter.

Our dryer went out a year ago and my husband, being the conservative that he is, thought the tub would make a good planter... and I agreed because it would be covered with pond liner on the inside so no yucky leftover chemicals bothering out plants.

It is the perfect size for our back porch!

I bought cedar planks and cut them in half... screwed them on and added a piece of metal strap to the top and bottom just to help hold the boards on for a long time... hopefully.

Once the outside was all ready... I drilled a hole about 10 inches up from the bottom for the drain pipe which is just a 1 inch black pipe 5 inches long.

I used leftover pond liner I had from last year... it was just the right size, but putting it in a round container was a bit challenging.

Once the pond liner was all in I poked the drain pipe through the pond liner and side of the tub and siliconed it into place.

I used leftover plant buckets for the reservoir inside and drilled holes so the water wouldn't be blocked.

I put all the plant buckets in and made sure my drain pipe wasn't covered

I used a container lid for the shelf on top of the buckets and cut holes for the wicking containers. I also used a 2 inch pvc pipe for the fill tube and drilled holes in the bottom so the water could fill the bottom of the tub (reservoir).

I also drilled holes in the wicking containers so they could suck up the water, lined them with cloth barrier and filled them with soil, then placed them in their spots I cut in the shelf.

I used the cloth barrier to line the inside of the tub on the shelf and around the sides to keep the soil from falling down in the reservoir.

Once everything was in the right place, I filled the planter with soil and soaked it really really well with water and filled the reservoir so the wicks could start pulling water up, then I planted my blackberry bush and a few small flowers. 

I am loving these self watering planters!

They are a little more expensive to build but I wouldn't do another planter without because I don't have to babysit them and water them non-stop.

I only water once or twice a month!

It's great!!!

Good luck with your next gardening adventure!