Getting Green! Planting and recycling.

Lately I have a new obsession.. PLANTING. I recently acquired a bunch of lovely succulents from my dear friends the Kratens. This inspired me to work on my backyard and test out my green thumb. Which sucks and it's hard to keep plants thriving for me but I am still giving it a try. So, I have been hitting places up like Home Depot and my new favorite place The Plant Stand. The Plant Stand has the largest selection of succulents along with other plants, herbs, fertilizers, plant food and pottery and other accessories.

I wanted a different look for the back yard patio area. Something of that of a reclaimed old recycled feel. Obviously exuding the vintage vibe hence I love vintage. I also wanted to recycle old found items. So here is what I did.

By recommendation from my friend Adriana of Anarchy In The Garden I picked up cactus soil. We have been going back and forth with my recent photo post on Instagram about planting. This is one of her areas of expertise. So, when I saw her last Friday I had a slew of questions on how to keep my new project thriving. With many tips ad pointers I was eager to start my project... Here are some of my photo's from a Monday afternoon well spent!

I had these old Buddhas and wanted to use them. Spray painted them in "cinnamon" which they really don't seem like the color cinnamon but I was pretty stocked on the end result.

 I started with a vintage wooded planter that I picked up while on holiday in Yosemite. The bf took me to a little town called Oakhurst where we hit up most of the thrift shops which have the best stuff for dirt cheap.

Wanting more of a reclaimed wood feel I pulled out an old drawer I had that came from a vintage sewing machine table. I then drilled some holes in the bottom and then with a hammer make a good size one!  of it for drainage and called it a planter!

Another rad find was while we were on holiday in Catalina I came across a plank of old wood. Yes, I brought it back home with me. I wanted to place the planter box that I picked up in Oakhurst on a stand I decided to use some vintage box cameras I have as feet and use the plank of wood as a shelf/stand. Now, I use a watering bucket to water my plants and not a hose so unless it rains I really am not worried about the cameras. I did spray a water repellent on them this morning.

Here is half of my finished project. 

                                                    

This is the old drawer that I recycled for as a planter! It came out so nice I was pretty shocked.

Here is my finished back yard. It's starting to look pretty back there. I really like the entire re-use, recycle and upcycle idea. So this project was incredibly fun. Love my finished results as do my friends!

I have more things that I want to do like make a table from a reclaimed door and place the vintage orange patio set under a tree in the far corner and place some whimsical like outdoor lighting. Yesterday evening we had a nice little BBQ.. Felt good to sit out back rather than indoors!


For good pointers on gardening check out my friend Adriana of Anarchy In The Garden's website! She also has a Facebook! She even gave me the idea of saving shower water to water the plants! I asked if it's safe and it is completely safe. Normally to get rid of bugs on plants you would use a soap and water mixture so it is perfectly fine. Plus succulents are drought tolerant! Thanks Adriana for all the rad tips!