Decorating a yard, garden or cottage is a fascinating and lengthy business, and it also requires decent material costs. To save money, many things to decorate the garden / plot can be done by hand. This time we will talk about how to make outdoor flowerpots. Let’s take a closer look at the manufacturing process of two materials – wood and concrete. These are the most plastic and inexpensive materials from which very good things can be made.
Wooden flowerpots
Wood may not be the best choice for making outdoor flowerpots, but it is very affordable, plastic, and easy to work with. That’s probably why it’s popular. Wooden outdoor flowerpots can be made from scrap boards, moisture-resistant plywood, timber, tree trunks, stumps, old barrels and tubs.
From boards and plywood
If you want the flowerpot to retain its color for a long time and not turn gray, but you don’t want to paint it with some kind of opaque paint (such as oil paint), you will need to buy wood oil. It gives the wood a shade, but leaves visible pores (like a stain). Along the way, this oil, as it were, “preserves” it, protects it from fungi, insects, and mold.
The easiest way to make flower vases is from rectangular or square boards. It is necessary to cut several pieces of the same length, put together a box from them, nail the bottom.
So that the bottom of such a flowerpot does not bloom, it must be raised on its legs. In the simplest version, four small pieces of board can be nailed to the bottom, in the corners. There is a desire – you can try to make more decorative legs (as in the photo above).
When nailing boards, do not try to knock down the planks very tightly. When watered, they will swell and, if they are nailed close, they can rise. However, you should not leave very large gaps – the earth can wake up through the bottom.
Another way to make an outdoor flower pot out of wood is to cut four identical pieces of timber with a small section of 25-25 mm, for example). Use the bars as the ribs of the structure, nail the boards to them, attach the bottom from below. This option is good because such flowerpots immediately have legs.
By the same principle, you can make a flowerpot from moisture-resistant plywood. Cut out the sides from it, attach them to the bars. Instead of nails, wood screws are usually used, and a drill will also be needed. Before screwing the screw, drill a hole. Attach the sidewall to the bar rack, drill, stepping back 1 cm from the edge. Drill diameter – 1-2 mm less than the diameter of the self-tapping screw. So, firstly, the bar will not burst, and secondly, it is easier to fasteners into plywood. Instead of wooden corners, you can take metal, better – from stainless steel.
The next version of the flower pot is made of wooden beams (photo below). It’s still easier here – they fold the beam so that the connection is either in one plane or in another. After laying each beam, it is nailed to those located below. Nails must be driven in at the corners; on the long side, you can also nail one or two times.
Everything is simple. Difficulties can arise only with the first row. It can be fixed to some kind of bottom, for example, knocked down from boards, a piece of waterproof plywood with holes drilled in it to drain water.
Any of these flowerpots can be combined with a bench. You will get a wonderful place to relax. Such a group can be placed in the garden, near the entrance, somewhere on the site, near the gazebo or a small homemade fountain.
From stumps and logs
In the garden or in the summer cottage, you have to periodically cut down old trees. From their stumps and trunks, you can also make outdoor flowerpots. First, let’s talk about how to use trunks. It is better not to peel off the bark, so the look of the flowerpots will be more decorative. Depending on the idea, the trunks are cut into blocks of some height. You can cut with a regular hand saw, but faster with a chainsaw. These logs can be placed standing up, you can lay them on their side.
The main task is to take out a piece of wood so that a container is formed that can be filled with earth. There are several methods for removing the core. Usually take a drill and a large diameter drill. A conical or spade-shaped drill works better (as in the photo).
Make some holes to the depth you need. It depends on the type of plants that you plan to plant in this flowerpot, but usually – 15-20 cm. You can make a lot of holes – the thinner the walls are, the easier it is to remove them.
The walls are destroyed by a chisel or a wide chisel. The handle of these tools is tapped with a hammer, and the sharp blade breaks off pieces. So, gradually, the core is released. Then the edges of the resulting container are slightly aligned using the same technique.
If the stump has a large diameter, you can use an ax or a pickaxe. Just be careful not to break the walls. Near the walls, you can use a drill, finally decorate the inside of the flowerpot with the same chisel.
Another option is to make some notches with an ax, crumble the wood, make a fire inside. But whether it will be possible to extinguish it in time is the question. The charred insides are then removed with a chisel or chisel.
By the way, very interesting compositions can be obtained from a very old and rotten deck. It is cleaned of very crumbling wood. The inside in this case is picked off very easily – the inner part of the trunk decays first. What’s left can be coated with wood oil, stopping decay for a period.
Such hollowed out logs or stumps make excellent flowerpots. Some design ideas are collected in the photo gallery.
From tub barrels and other cooperage products
The easiest way to make street flowerpots is from old barrels, tubs and other containers that are no longer in use and cannot be used due to old age, but it is a pity to throw them away. They can be processed a little with sandpaper – manually or by attaching an appropriate nozzle to a drill / grinder. Then they can be painted, varnished for outdoor use or wood oil. And you can plant plants.
Barrels are sawn, and in any plane. But if you cut along, you will have to knock together planks with each other. The barrels cut across are two identical (or almost) flowerpots.
Even old wood can be left untreated. So the composition looks more natural. But not all styles will fit such a flowerpot. In this case, use a special paint for outdoor work, which can be used on wood.
Outdoor flowerpot made of plastic with wooden lining
If outwardly you like wood, but want to have an airtight container to avoid drips on the site after watering, you can paste over the plastic container with wooden planks. Planks are treated with antiseptics, painted, dried. Then you can start converting a plastic container (bucket, tank, barrel) into a flower pot for outdoor flowers.
First, holes are drilled in the bottom. Out diameter – 10-14 mm. Leave two opposite zones along the edges untouched. Here we attach the “legs” – two planks cut so that they do not protrude beyond the outline of the barrel. You can attach it to the bolts, drill a hole under the head so that the fasteners are “drowned”.
We take a universal glue that is suitable for gluing plastic and wood, and glue the planks on it. The narrower the planks, the more monolithic the surface will be. Such outdoor flowerpots do not shrink and do not swell.
Homemade concrete flower vases
Concrete is good because it can be poured into any shape. Suitable plastic, glass, metal, wooden, clay vessels and even cardboard boxes.
It is most convenient to work with plastic – it is easy to remove from it. Even easier with glass, but such forms are usually disposable. It was not possible to take them out – they are broken.
What kind of concrete to use
For the manufacture of outdoor flowerpots, you can use ordinary concrete, consisting of cement and sand in a ratio of 1: 3/4 (Portland cement grade not lower than M 400 and clean sifted river sand). The surface of such a flowerpot will be monophonic, gray. In some cases, it looks stylish, and the gray color does not distract attention from the main one – from the flowers. But but not always.
decorative concrete products look more interesting. It is also called artistic, art, architectural, acrylic, polymer – concrete. These are all designations for the same product. In addition to cement and sand, architectural concrete contains polymer additives, small fragments of natural minerals, some contain dyes. The surface of the flowerpot made of decorative concrete is smoother, more interesting, interspersed with natural stones. The specific type depends on the selected composition. Some types of decorative concrete are shown in the photo below.
The surface of the flowerpot made of decorative concrete is smoother, more interesting, interspersed with natural stones. The specific type depends on the selected composition. Some types of decorative concrete are shown in the photo above.
What to make forms for pouring a concrete flowerpot
Any shape can be used, from almost any material. It is important that it does not get wet and keeps its shape for 4-5 hours. Then the concrete seizes and already holds itself. Therefore, they make forms even from thick packaging cardboard, sizing coal well and tightening it with belts” from adhesive tape. But caron can be used to make molds only for small flowerpots – for a small group of plants. But the form can be any.
Actually, two forms are needed – one to form the outer surface, the second – much smaller – is inserted inside the first and forms a zone into which soil is then poured and plants are planted. The internal shape is selected based on the dimensions of the planned flowerpot, but the wall thickness should not be less than 3 cm.
You can use plastic bowls, glasses, containers, trays, water bottles – large and small. You can knock down the form of boards, plywood, pieces of other sheet material. It doesn’t matter. Anything, anything that comes to mind to use.
Is there an interesting shape of a bowl or bowl? Also suitable. And to form the internal volume, you can find something heavy, preferably of the correct shape, but this is absolutely not important. Even a bowling ball will do. It is good because it is heavy and smooth – you can easily take it out.
Round flowerpots look best, but finding the right shape is not easy. Usually these are either plastic containers or glass balls, which are cut / broken after the concrete has set.
Manufacturing process
It is possible to work with cement only at temperatures above +5 °C. Ideal conditions are +20°C and high humidity, but temperature is more important. The place where you will leave the concrete to “ripen” should be in the shade.
You found suitable forms, stirred the cement. It should not be too runny, not too thick. It should not drain from a spatula or spatula, but not so dry that something can be molded from it.
It is necessary to work with gloves – concrete corrodes hands very quickly. You need a spatula or something similar to spread the solution, a long thin stick or a metal rod to remove air. You will also need either a large container with water or a piece of plastic wrap.
We take forms, process them with some kind of lubricant. This is necessary in order to remove the flowerpot from the mold easily. You can use the following drugs:
- Non-stick cooking spray. Harmless and effective.
- Special sprays for concrete. They are much more expensive, but the performance is the same.
- Engine oil.
- Universal grease VD-40.
Maybe other compounds work, but these are tested.
One of the compositions is processing forms. The big one is inside, the small one is outside. In a large form, pour the solution into the bottom with a layer of 3-4 cm, level it. This will be the bottom. If you want drainage holes in the bottom, insert pieces of tubing. You can use metal, cut them into pieces 3-4 cm long, also treat the outside with grease. In this case, the bottom thickness should be equal to the height of these tubes. And place them strictly under the bottom of the second form.
We put the second form on the solution. If it is light, we fill it with small stones, crushed stone, pebbles, sand. The gaps between the two walls are filled with mortar. If the material allows, then we take a rod or a thin stick along the walls with a hammer, pierce the solution to the bottom, shake it from side to side. With these actions – knocking and piercing – air bubbles come out of the concrete, it settles down a little. This procedure can be repeated a couple of times. Then we take some smooth object (a spoon, for example), spray it with grease and level the top of the wall. try to make the side as even as possible – then it’s hard to do something with it.
We cover the form filled with concrete with a piece of polyethylene and leave it in this form for at least a day. After a day, the form can be removed, but it is still impossible to use the flowerpot. It can be lowered into a container of water and left there for a week. Another option is to cover with a film and sprinkle with water three or four times a day. Spray generously, until completely dark. Remember to cover with cling film each time. After about 10-14 days, you can start planting plants. That’s all, now you can make concrete outdoor flowerpots with your own hands.
Finishing a concrete flowerpot
If you do not like the surface of the flowerpot, you can decorate it. Do not make the flowerpot too bright. It is only a background for the flowers and greenery that will be planted in it. There are traditional methods – painting, there are more exotic ones – finishing with mosaics, pieces of broken ceramic tiles or pebbles.
When painting, choose a paint that is suitable for concrete, pre-priming the surface (in order for the paint to hold better and not flake off).
For finishing with tiles or pebbles, a layer of tile adhesive (for outdoor use) 5-6 mm thick is laid on the surface, and pebbles are pressed into it. It is necessary to work carefully, to erase traces of glue on pebbles with a rhinestone – then it is not removed.
The finished flowerpot is left to dry until the glue dries (the time is indicated on the package). The joints can then be grouted using standard tile grout. It is inconvenient to work, the gaps between the pebbles are too narrow. You can try using thin plastic strips or narrow tile grouts.
Flowerpots from building concrete blocks
Hollow concrete blocks with large cells are suitable for planting plants. Soil is poured into the cells, flowers are planted. You can lay out a whole wall from such blocks. The recipe is simple but very effective.
And finally, the video is a master class on how to make a flowerpot from an auto tire.