Like many Crafters, DIYer and Gardeners I love finding things on the side of the road that I can use for projects. Today was a day when the side of the road did not disappoint.
This is an old fire pit. It is rusty and many of the stone along the sides are falling out. At first I didn’t think I’d be able to use this for anything in my garden as I don’t have a safe space for a fires in my small yard. Then my husband had a wonderful idea. Let’s make it into a planter.
Thankfully the bowl of the firepit has built in drain holes and very little work will need to be done in order to get it ready to hold plants. It is shallow the the plants will have to be plants that do not require deep soil for roots to grow. This is why I am thinking succulents might be an ideal choice. I also want to keep the plants relatively short so that it still looks like a table. That being said, like everything in my garden, I want it to play an active role in my backyard ecosystem. This is why I plan on including a pollinator water station as part of the garden.
With our increasing temperatures, summer months often leave our pollinators at risk. Having a watering station in your garden can help provide for these ecosystem backbones.
Naturally if I want to create a watering station for pollinators I want to also include some food (in the form of flowers) for them. Finding a flower that grows well with succulents, does not have a deep root system, and is an effective feeder of pollinators is going to be my next challenge. I am thinking Alyssum as it is easy to care for and quite durable, but I am going to check with my horticulturalist friend. I am planning on making a few more blog posts documenting my progress on this project so stay tuned!
