Forward thinking - Planters and Herb Gardens

With the current backyard makeover in full swing, we don't have much space for actual growing of stuff right now. That leads me to the need for some hanging planters or herb gardens, or something like that.

In order for our stuff to survive in our current backyard state, I need to think about hanging planters or window planters. Something like that. So I went hunting and found some great ideas in the blog-o-sphere (haven't heard that word used in a while!).

Idea 1 - From "Pretty Handy Girl" is a planter that is actually intended for an interior application, but would look perfectly fine on our patio which is currently home to a billion retaining wall blocks. The nice thing about this idea is that it could be moved easily due to its size, which is very appealing since everything in our yard is in flux right now.

 Her tutorial is first rate, and this looks like a very do-able project in an evening or two. I really love her metal leaf tags - I'll have to wait for the tutorial on building the tags, but I think I already have it figured out. Those tags would be great on our Espalier!

Idea 2 is less labour intensive, but equally fantastic. Rain gutter planters.

The trick with these is to not have them come out looking like rain gutters. On her blog, The Biggest Much, Jaclyn builds a great cascade of herb gardens. I can see these loaded with strawberries, herbs, just about anything that wants to send out runners. Since we have a defunct gazebo on our back porch, these would make fantastic curtain walls, and allow us some garden space without taking up any real space. I might be tempted to paint the gutters a copper tone or similar though. I see this project as do-able in an afternoon or less with store-bought plants. I wonder if there would be a way to dome the planters for frost protection in the spring/fall and extend our outdoor growing season. I am a big fan of this idea.

I can see this in my future!

Another blog had a similar setup, but nailed to a fence. I think that's a great idea as well.

Finally, I saw some "washtub" veggie gardens while browsing ideas, and I really think they could be good for us this summer, but I don't know what I would do with the used washtubs later on. Then there are the black earthboxes, and so many other ideas. I hope we get something started soon though since our growing season is well underway!  

Rain is in the forecast for the next couple days. Maybe I can get started tonight!