Container Gardening Complete

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

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Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 171

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 170

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MILK-

CRATE

GARDENING

MATERIALS NEEDED

Plastic milk crates

Roll of burlap fabric

Enough 50/50 potting

soil and compost

blend to fill all the

milk crates

Plants

TOOLS NEEDED

Scissors

This is another excellent way to experiment with container growing,

without having to invest a lot of time and money. What’s extra fun about

this technique is that you have lots of design options for displaying your

milk crate garden:

• Stack the planted crates in layers, checkerboard-style, to make a
  wall of containers. Plant low, vining plants, such as cucumbers,
  melons, and winter squash, in the lower levels, then use crates with
  taller plants, like peppers, eggplants, and basil, as the top tier.


• For this project, I placed the plants in the open top of the milk
  crate, but you could also cut holes in the burlap sides and plant
  herbs and seeds of vining veggies right through the holes in the
  sides of the crate, allowing you to stack the crates directly on top
  of each other and save tons of space.


• Milk crates also make excellent hanging planters. Attach chains
  with S-hooks to the top edge of the crate and hang it from plant
  hangers or ceiling hooks.


• Prior to planting, secure the milk crates to a deck railing using
  L-brackets or bolts for another great way to save space.

The possibilities are endless with milk-crate gardening!

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HOW TO MAKE A MILK-CRATE GARDEN

STEP 1 Cut a piece of natural or synthetic burlap twice

the size of the inside of the milk crate. For added

interest, use patterned or printed burlap from a fabric

store. Tuck the burlap down into the bottom of the

crate and into the four corners, then pull the ends of

the fabric out over the top edge of the crate. Don’t line

up the corners of the fabric with the corners of the

crate; it looks far more interesting if they’re off-set.

STEP 2 Fill the burlap with the potting soil/compost

blend to within 1 in. of the top of the milk crates. As

you water these containers, any excess water will drain

right through the porous burlap, so there’s no need to

cut drainage holes. Choose a single specimen plant for

each crate. Since each crate only holds a few gallons

of soil, do not overstuff them. If you’d like, you can add

one or two filler flowers or herbs to each crate, but

don’t overdo it or the plants won’t perform their best.

STEP 3 Arrange your milk crates however you’d like.

NOTE: Because of the porous nature of the burlap,

your milk crate garden might need to be watered a

little more often than plants grown in non-porous

plastic, metal, or glazed ceramic containers.

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Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 171

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 170

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 171 5/24/17 1:07 PM