Ladder Garden and Growing Up ;-)
by
Macanoodos
3 Materials
$100
3 Hours
Easy
First, hello! I've never posted here, although I've been viewing the wonderful posts here for a long, long time. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to post - and for all the inspiration you offer!
Secondly, please forgive my lack of step-by-step photos. I had already completed my project by the time I even thought to post it. Luckily, my project was so super easy, I think the step-by-step instructions are not as needed as some of the more complicated posts I see on here. So please, again, forgive me for that!
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I moved to a manufactured home park a year ago and after living in an apartment for 10 years, I was excited to be able to grow things again! Unfortunately, the yard is all front yard with no where to really grow any type of garden and I really, really wanted an herb garden. So what's a girl to do? Well, if I can't grow out, I'll grow UP!
My neighbor from my old apartment had a 20 foot painters ladder - the kind that was all wood and had a pulley on it. He let me have it for FREE! Yay! The metal brackets that were once a greenish color had all rusted nicely. The ladder, however, was pretty darned rickety. And 20 feet tall was much to tall for me to work with. So I had the top part, (the most sturdy part), cut into two 5 foot sections that I could work with more easily. I'm 5'3" so two 5' ladder sections worked perfect for my stature.
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After cutting it down - my brother used a circular saw - I had to wire it together. I wired the top and bottom rungs together with the ladder sides on each ladder and then I wired the two sections of ladder together for extra support. The plants I hung on it are pretty heavy when watered so I need the ladder to be able to support all the weight!
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I planted starter plants that I got from various stores - Lowes, Grocery Outlet and even Rite Aide - all each less than $3.00. (Trying to go as cheap as I can!) I thought that because of the rustic look of the ladder, I'd go with rustic looking containers. Galvanized buckets seemed perfect for the project. So I purchased lots of various galvanized buckets from Hobby Lobby. All their metal buckets and anything named "Spring Shop" are all half price right now, so I loaded up.
After punching drainage holes in the bottom of each bucket with a hammer and nail, I started transplanting all the herbs into all the various buckets. Because the buckets are metal and it gets hot in the summer, I was concerned about the soil in them drying out quickly. So I used 5 parts Miracle-Gro potting soil (with fertilizer) and mixed in 1 part Miracle-Gro peat moss. Mixing them should help keep them moist during the hottest of days.
I then used zinc plated steel chain to secure the bucket handles to each rung. I purchased the chain I did specifically so I could open and close the links myself. Be careful because some chains are not the kind that you can open the links like this one. And I bought the white lock and key at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 and fastened it to the ladder pulley with some more chain.
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It's a super easy project and I'm looking forward to watching everything grow. All I need to do now is water my new vertical garden and wait for it to grow so I can eat it all! lol
ps: the watering can in front is not part of the galvanized garden - just an old one I had.
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Comments
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4 of 8 comments
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Love this idea. Still looking for a ladder. Thanks for the tip on the soil.
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I live near Macanoodos and have seen this first hand. It looks great and has really added an artsy feel to that area. Congrats on a job well done!
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Thank you Janice!!
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