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    Home » Yard Art And Upcycled Garden Decor

    25+ Upcycled Garden Ideas

    Published by Pam Kessler | 985 words. · About 5 minutes to read this article. - 17 Comments

    Do you love the look of using upcycled items in your garden?

    Sure, anybody can do your basic store bought flower pots and mass produced hanging baskets. And honestly, I've done that on occasion too.

    But to run across a little bit of whimsy and something unexpected in a garden?

    THAT is special. THAT makes makes me smile!

    upcycled garden ideas

    Plus it's super thrifty, eco-friendly and FUN to upcycle common, slightly boring household objects for the garden.

    Over the years I have added more and more pieces of yard art and repurposed planters into my flower beds. It started with a spur of the moment idea to glue some pennies onto a bowling ball and has morphed into me dragging home a heavier than I thought it was sink from the Habitat Restore store to use as a planter (that one is super new, so no pictures of that one yet).

    Not sure where to start? I've collected some great repurposed garden projects from around the web with a few of mine thrown in for good measure.

    Upcyled Garden Ideas

    Upcycled Chair Planter

    upcycled chair planter
    These curb side finds turned out to be pretty cute planters!
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    Junk Garden Planter

    Carlene is pretty much the queen of junk gardening. If you have a chance go over and check out her garden tours!
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    Upcycled Garden Tool Organizer

    Upcycled garden tool organizer made from a wooden mail organizer from the 1970's.
    A fun way to repurpose a 1970's wooden mail organizer. It's great to hang by the back door and fill with your most used garden tools so you can just grab what you need on the way to the flower bed.
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    Seed Spreader Garden Planter

    This is one of my favorite projects from last spring. I flipped out when I saw this aqua seed spreader at a local and just had to have it for the yard!
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    DIY Bird Feeder Form Vintage Snack Set

    A cute use for all those snack sets you practically trip over at the thrift stores (seriously, there's at least 20 at every thrift store I walk into).
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    DIY Faux Enamelware Planter

    how to make a faux enamelware bowl.
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    Upcycled License Plate Planter

    upcycled license plate planter
    Well how cute is this planter made out of a license plate!!! Plus she's got a great detailed tutorial on how to make your own!
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    Repurposed Toy Truck Planter

    repurposed toy truck planter
    A few years ago I found a rusty old toy truck at a yard sale and decided to give it new life as a planter.
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    Lampshade Frame Vertical Garden

    This is a great use of all those lampshades you find at the thrift store!
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    Rubber Boot Planters

    Adorable idea for spring gardening!
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    Outdoor Metal Stand Update

    painted outdoor garden stand
    Updating a wrought iron bakers rack into a fun and colorful stand for the porch!
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    Vintage Galvanized Planters

    washtub-planter
    This is just one of the galvanized pieces she has repurposed into planters at her home and she shows the rest in this blog post.
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    Penny Bowling Ball Yard Art

    This is one of my very first posts (as you can tell from the photos), but one of my most searched for on Google - how to create a piece of yard art with a bowling ball and pennies.
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    DIY Potting Bench With Sink

    This potting bench started life as an outdoor storage bench. Like the kind you'd put kid's toys or patio chair cushions in. Now it's a handy dandy potting bench!
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    Upcycled Bathroom Light Planter

    TONS of bathroom light fixtures can be found at thrift stores or Habitat stores. This is a great way to upcycle one into a fun, colorful hanging planter.
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    Succulent Log Planter

    The secret to this project is I used a bonfire log to make the planter! And to think this idea came to me in the middle of the aisle at Home Depot.
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    Repurposed Stair Railing

    Stair railing makes a great trellis for your climbing vegetables!
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    DIY Hummingbird Feeder Station

    DIY hummingbird feeder
    This upcycled chandelier make a perfect and colorful hummingbird station!
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    Colander Planter With Silverware Wind Chimes

    Not only do you have a colander repurposed as a planter, but I show you how to make wind chimes out of thrifted silverware.
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    Frying Pan Plant Markers

    I never would have thought to use frying pans as plant markers, but it's quite ingenious.
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    Tipped Wheelbarrow Planter

    This is a cute way to use an old wheelbarrow to pretty up the garden.
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    Upcycled Garden Center Plastic Pots

    You know those cheap, flimsy pots your plants come in at the garden center? They don't have to stay that way!
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    Tomato Cage Bottle Tree

    This project gives you an excuse to go out and drink a lot of wine or in my case beer. In order to get enough bottles for the bottle tree of course.
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    Repurposed Shoe Planter

    Y'all can't tell me you don't have a shoe in your closet to make into a cute planter! This would be super quick and easy to do!
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    Repurposed Cinder Black Planter

    repurposed cinder block planter
    I love when you can take something so ordinary as a cinder block and make it into something so cute!
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    Upcycled Planters From The Kitchen

    Shelley uses all sort of upcycled kitchenware in her edibles garden.
    View More Details

    View the web story version of this article HERE - Upcycled Garden Projects Web Story.

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    Comments

    1. Darlene Bray

      March 18, 2023 at 3:22 pm

      Very inspiring, thanks for sharing! There are at least 3-4 ideas here that I can do immediately. That is when our Canadian winter goes away and it’s time to get outside. lol The succulent planter, the upcycl mail holder, and more, it will take no time to make them happen, and new ideas like these just continue to motivate me. I’ll be following, enjoy your summer…….one love.

      Reply
    2. Deanna Carroll

      January 27, 2023 at 11:13 pm

      You had a small yellow step stool or ladder with a bird bath on top. I would love to see it again.

      Reply
    3. Manon

      July 04, 2022 at 11:27 am

      I love your ideas !

      Reply
    4. Leanne

      July 22, 2021 at 10:06 am

      Hey. I love your work. This should really be made something more than a trend. Its saving the planet and I thing will evolve. I tried starting my own blog on much similar ideas. Shine on.x

      Reply
    5. Carol

      June 27, 2021 at 3:28 pm

      My daughter had male neighbor who had a very different idea about unusual planters. He took oversized bras, filled them with dirt and plants and hung them on his fence. Strange...

      Reply
    6. Dee Bell

      February 16, 2021 at 9:31 pm

      So many good ideas! Thank you

      Reply
    7. Anne Burgess

      October 10, 2020 at 12:32 am

      Wonderful ideas thanks very much best regards Anne

      Reply
    8. Oona

      August 05, 2020 at 10:47 am

      Many of these ideas feature planters made of metal. I repainted an old wheel barrel . It was cute full flowers . But later in Spring, when it got warmer, metal amplified the heat and fried the contents. I recommend metal only for shady locations.

      Reply
    9. Marty

      July 25, 2020 at 1:23 pm

      Digging out some old tomato wires now, love the bottle tree made easy.

      Reply
    10. carol

      May 10, 2020 at 3:33 pm

      love your garden spreader flower pot - I have a old lawn mower that I want to turn into a flower pot hope it comes out as cute as that

      Reply
    11. Meegan

      March 24, 2020 at 4:15 pm

      There are so many incredible and creative ideas! Thanks for including my shoe garden idea.

      Reply
    12. Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces

      March 21, 2020 at 9:48 am

      So many wonderful ideas...I can hardly wait to get outside in the garden! Hope you and your family are staying well!

      Reply
    13. Tiena Nobles

      March 20, 2020 at 9:50 pm

      Thank you for all of the great ideas you share!! I smiled at the penny bowling ball. I did one with my grandson and all of the pennies popped off!! I should have used better glue for our northern climate! Anyway I love your ideas!

      Reply
    14. Becky

      March 20, 2020 at 3:59 pm

      The Seed Spreader Garden Planter is gorgeous. What kind of Purple plant or name of Purple plant is in box planter behind the Seed Spreader?

      Reply
      • Pam Kessler

        March 20, 2020 at 4:57 pm

        It's Lobelia. It is an annual and was one of the Techno Heat varieties which do very well in hotter weather (earlier varieties tended to quit blooming and would look leggy in July, these newer ones will last all summer long). They come in a lot of shades of blue, a few pinks and then white.

        Reply
    15. Sue Shepard

      March 20, 2020 at 3:09 pm

      Thank you Pam. We needed some inspiration and beauty in our lives with what all is going on all over the world. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
      • Pam Kessler

        March 20, 2020 at 4:47 pm

        You are welcome!!!

        Reply

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