I really like those lightweight foam pots that look like concrete or terra cotta. I found a couple at Big Lots pretty cheap. Don't forget to look there if you have one. Lowe's carries them too so maybe you could catch some on clearance this late in the year. The foam insulates - keeps the roots from getting too hot or cold. Some of them are very pretty too.

$General also has those foam pots. I have some regular flower pots, a huge decorated clay pot I bought at Lowe's for $5 because it was cracked from the top to over halfway down but I bought some kind of bonding glue that a guy reccommended, we glued it, DH tied a string around it just in case but it's held up great for 5 years. The 1st year I emptied the dirt and plants so it wouldn't freeze but the following years I've filled most of the pot with cardboard and styrofoam to save on potting soil. Do any of you do that? I bought an old coal bucket at a flea market and I use it turned on it's side and have some sedum planted in the bottom 1/4 of a plastic barrel and a wood amunition box filled with hens and chicks.

Great thread! I'll look for some good ideas!

Nancy

I don't do many containers because I hate keeping them watered.

I did make a couple of the tufa lug-type ones just for fun. I plant a half whiskey barrel and a regular large clay pot and that is about it.

Yes, I finally got smart with the whiskey barrel and used gallon milk jugs to replace soil in the bottom, can't remember what I did with the clay pot.

I have an old hog feeder, the tall-self filling ones, that I keep thinking about doing something with, but so far it is just sitting in the shed.

I wanted a contemporary look in planters. I had my husband make large square plywood boxes. I used cheap plastic pots for the inside. I mixed cement, filled the boxes using the plastic pot for the inside liner. I used rocks to hold it down. When dry I had a perfectly square pot. You have to leave the plastic pot in place because it won't come out anyway. Emptied the rocks and filled with dirt. For some of the square pots I put cement dye in the mix. By the way, I put the empty boxes in the places they would be permanently sitting because they are so heavy. On some of the planters I plan on adding tile to the outside.

I use just about anything on the place that will hold soil, and has drainage holes. :-) I am very informal with the 'look'. Naturally I prefer handsome containers, but a limited budget doesn't allow me to buy many. Since I live in the boonedocks, with no neighbors that see what I have unless they come to our yard, I don't need to 'put on a show' for anyone.
All of my plantings were in containers this summer, and set on our deck, to prevent the deer and rabbits from eating the plants! I will be doing the same thing next year, and probably from now on. I save rainwater in tubs and barrels for watering. It isn't that big of a chore, since everything is grouped together. If I run out of rainwater I run the hose from the pond pump to the water containers and refill them.

Marian

Most anything that will hold plants, Dollar Store cheapies to half whiskey barrels..but my favorite is a found chamber pot from our property. That one always gets attention!

Recently I wanted to plant tomatoes and decided to do them in a container to save my back! Shopped for a long time to find affordable ones. VERY difficult to find...if at all possible. We read of a sale on the plastic storage bins w the lids; they were about $6 each and held three plants. We bought several, put holes in the bottom filled 1/4 w foam "peanuts" and the rest w compost , soil etc. The tomatoes were great over the summer ! Then we put the lids on the containers for next Spring and we are almost all set to go again. No more digging those horrible roots and clay to prepare the ground!!

I enjoys use lots of silver (metal) antique small tubs, antique fire pail (it is unusal pail), minnow buckets (belongs my father's), antique wood ashes pail, and some new pails (found at Dollars Store). My husband had to drill bottom many holes for drainage. I filled up 1/4 of peanut foam. I added annual flowers such as...Red or Green potato ivy, spikes, colecus, gernamium ivy, purple hearts, and houseplant spider. I thought they looks so pretty in silver containers! Kat

Thanks guys, i see good possibilities with all suggestions. I loved the one from triciajune with the tomatoes. Have been trying things for 3 years without much luck.
vickie

I use free 2 gallon potato salad and 5 gallon pickle buckets from McAlister's Deli. My hubbie used to work there (the Jonesboro location) and they were gonna just toss the buckets! I'm not sure if all the McAlister's do this or not. But they go through a few each week. One could always ask the manager for them, or make a deal to get them on the cheap. I know they have locations in Jonesboro, Little Rock, and Fayetteville (all Arkansas).

The last several dozen I got were bright yellow, which I thought was kind of fun. The salad buckets were white. Drill holes in the bottom.