Hello and welcome to another floral Friday. There are no silk flowers today. Instead, I am going to share with you the planting up of my wall trough which hasn't been done for nearly 10 years.
I photographed each stage to show you how, spending only £20, I went from an empty trough to this:
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
I started where the old liner left off!
This is a wrought iron wall trough and needed to be lined before I could do anything with it. If you have a similar wall trough, hanging basket our other outdoor planter, you can easily make it look fabulous for less than £20.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Here are the items you will need:
Ready woven coconut liner £8
Four Winter Flowering Pansies £4 (£1 each)
Trailing Ivy £3
Compost £3
Shingle £1
Black bin liner 2p
Cable ties 16p
Scissors
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Purchase a good quality liner and it will last for many years. My wall trough is in a slightly sheltered position so after doing my garden maths, it works out at less than 10p per month.
Firstly, take the liner and gently mould it to the shape of the trough. You should line up from the middle front and then work outwards.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
When you are happy with your liner, take your cable ties and, starting in the centre, fold over the liner and secure with a tie.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
The best way is to (carefully!) take your scissors and pierce the liner and then feed the cable tie through, keeping the scissors in place. Please take care of the cutting edge when using scissors. If you prefer, use a knitting needle or similar.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Secure the liner every two hand widths and work out from the centre front. You only need to secure the front and sides of the liner.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
*Tip: Do NOT snip off the tails of the cable ties as you will end up with a very sharp stub of plastic right up at your working height. I suggest you twizzle the ties over so the tails sit in the trough.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Now, take you dustbin bag and fold it in half.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Lay the bag the full length of the trough, piece a few holes in the bag and hold it in place with shingle.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
The small stones act as drainage under the plants so their roots are not sitting in water.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
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| Lella Loves... Home-made Potting Mix |
Take your compost (I used a soil, sand and compost mix) and fill your trough up to just over half. The weight of the shingle and the compost will spread out the black bin liner so it fills the space perfectly.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
If you end up with too much liner showing, simply snip it off at this point.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Starting at one end of the trough, take your chosen plants and place into the trough in the order of: two handfuls of soil, one plant, two handfuls of soil, one plant. Remember to firm the roots in as you go.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Keep working from one side to the other and alternate your planting. I chose pansies, ivy, pansies, ivy pansies and so on. Each time I planted, I back-filled with two handfuls of soil, gently pressing down to firm. Plants will not grow with pockets of air around their roots.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
When you have planted the entire trough, take a few handfuls of shingle and gently cover the exposed soil. Do not put shingle right up under the planting as it can cause too much wetness around the main stem.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Cover up the soil and gently firm the top down using your finger tips. Don't press too hard - you don't want the trough pinging off the wall!
If you are out and about and you see a little birdie ornament, please pop him in your shopping basket. Birds by the front door look friendly and are considered good luck.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Give your trough a watering and then let it settle for a few days. The plants need to get over the shock of their roots no longer confined in a plastic tub.
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
You will be able to see them 'stretching' as they spread out and enjoy the space. Look at the photo above and then look below. They are the very same plants photographed just 2 days later.
This is what your trough should look like after its first 48 hours:
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| Lella Loves... Outdoor Planters |
Keep an eye on the flowers and dead-head them every other day. By removing faded blooms, the plant will not run to seed and your flowering period will be far longer than normal.
I chose Winter Flowering Pansies as I wanted to get the most out of my £4 and they should give me colour throughout the winter season.
I hope you make up a pretty trough or hanging basket for the coming months.
See you soon,
Lella xx
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