A Different Basket Planter

Earlier I showed you how I made my own basket planter. I also said that I made another that same day that I would share later. Well, it is still a work in progress, but I will share with you where it is at now.

At yard sale I picked up one of those three tier hanging baskets for my kitchen. I completely intended to use it for storing fruit and the like. There was already a hook where I wanted to hang it, and I thought it would be perfect. There was just one problem, I couldn't reach the baskets with out climbing on the counter; not exactly a convenient choice.

The baskets hung there, empty, for awhile. I didn't really have another place I wanted t to hang then, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Then, as I was making the basket planter, I thought the three tiered baskets would be an interesting planter for the kitchen. I had some baby spider plants, some philodendron, and zebrina wandering jew; three plants, three baskets, perfect!

I tried using the plastic bags again to line the baskets. Since there is nothing to staple the bag to, I tried to overlap the bag on the top and staple it to itself. It did not look right.

Then I got some old feed bags. Our feed bags are woven plastic. I traced around the edges of the baskets to get an approximate size, and then cut out the circles.

I quickly found that assembling the planter was best done with the planter hanging, so I hung it from a nail on our deck to work on it. I placed the cut out pieces of the bag in the basket. Since the plastic is woven, it drains on its own. I added some dirt, and then the plants.

The plastic has a rough looking edge, that I'm not thrilled with, but I am hoping that as the plants fill out, it will hide the edges some.

I've been trying to think what would make a good substitute if you do not have feed bags available. I haven't come up with one yet. You could use old bowls or pots that fit in the different sized baskets. Another idea I had and may try myself is to line the baskets with moss. I'm not sure if the moss alone would be sufficient. Anyone ever try a project like that? I will update you if I try it. For now though, the repurposed baskets are hanging between my kitchen windows. The wandering jew is growing like crazy, and I'm wondering if I should have just planted the whole basket with that!