Howdy cowgirls! Let’s saddle up and talk today about reusing an old wheelbarrow. Are ya in? Good! A few years ago I was out junkin’ with my dear friend English Diane and we loaded up this old wheelbarrow. 
Ain’t she a beauty? Rusty, messy and chippy painted just the way we like ‘um. Lately she has been hanging around my garden patiently waiting for me to gussy her up and give her a job. Finally I took the plunge and dolled her up.
Darlin’ cowgirls, your plants need water but they don’t want to swim all day, they just want a drink. The water has to have somewhere to go, if not it will most likely pool at the bottom of the wheel barrel trough and your plants will not be happy and they will die. Sad day.
I gathered up my tools and head off to the shop. A drill in one hand and my lucky red horse shoe in the other, I was ready to go.
Why a lucky red horse shoe, why not? I love lucky red horse shoes don’t you? If you need one, check this out www.etsy.com/shop/MyWesternHeart, you can find them there.
Okay back to work. Take your drill and a large drill bit, and drill several large holes in bottom part of the wheel barrow, so when you water, it has a place to go.
Wasn’t that easy? I thought so too. See the drainage holes.
For this project I headed to my local Green Thumb Nursery, I felt they would give me some extra expert advice, this is what the lovely flower gal told me.
You need 3 types of plants,
I liked that, it helped a lot. Thrillers are tall, spillers of course spill over the side of your pot and fill, fills in the space.
Here is my finished project.
My “thrill” is a tall grass, right in the middle, the spill is this really cool purple stuff, which I have no idea what it is called but I thought it would be good for fall and lastly the fill is mostly marigolds but a few other fillers. I chose these colors so I could use this during fall. So here you have it, reusing an old wheel barrow to display beautiful flowers. Let me know what you think cowgirls, please leave me a little ol’ comment now. Until next time! Happy, healthy trails!
One last note…the funny looking cactus thing in my creation has great sentimental value, it was one of 2 things that survived a terrible fire that burned down my childhood home. It came from a once beautiful coyote and cactus was fountain. Such a treasure, it had been a gift from my father to my mom, the new owners were kind enough to let us have it.
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Beautiful! Thank you for the tips. Love the horse shoe!!!!
Thank you Melissa and welcome to My Western Heart! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter The Pony Express so you don’t miss a thing! We like that old horse shoe too, thanks for commenting!
Thanks for the lesson on the flowers, planting, drilling and everything! What a beautiful project you completed and loved the sentimental items you added (I was wondering what the were)! So pretty!!!
Howdy Darci! And welcome to My Western Heart, thank you so much for stopping by and checking out our latest post!! Great to see you here!
Ahhh it’s a thing of beauty …
Well English Diane! Love ya girl, so great to see you here!! Miss you tons! xx Come back again soon!!
Love the purple guy you placed at the front of the wheelbarrow…reminds me of Bere Rabbits brier patch! Good eye, did Anne help!
Well hello Lori! Thanks for stopping by My Western Heart,I love the purple guy too, I need to find out his name…. at least I didn’t find him in a bar..LOL Sadly Annie was up in Montana trading treasures, but she plans to be down soon in November and will be helping me get organized for the fall show. Thanks for stopping by, please sign up for our newsletter, The Pony Express!
Fantastic idea! I have an old wheelbarrow! Thank you for sharing!
Welcome to My Western Heart Ginger! Thank you for commenting, yes take your old wheelbarrow and have some fun. I am going to add some pumpkins to mine very soon to kick off the fall season! Please sign up for our newsletter The Pony Express so you don’t miss our posts. I promise not to send you tons of emails etc…I don’t have time…thanks again! Lisa
I love the cheery way you write. I’ve been wanting to put plants in a wheelbarrow for ages. I love the idea of things to thrill, spill and fill. Thanks for the tips.:)
Hi Tamuria! Welcome to MWH, this was a fun project but like you it took me a while to get it done. I am so glad I did! Come back for more tips in the garden and repurposing items
My first reaction was “Wow”, I love this. It is fun and colourful and looks relatively easy to do. Relatively. 🙂 My question has to do with the depth and roots. Do you have to be concerned with the plants and how their roots spread out, so that they don’t crowd each other out? Other than that, the rusty look of the wheel barrel, with the fresh colourful flowers, is wonderful and as a flower and plant loving person, what a fun way to decorate your yard. Thanks for walking us through the process, Lisa. Another great one!
Hi Beverley, thanks for stopping by! The plants seem to be doing well, I really think the drainage is keeping the plants happy, they have really grown since I planted them. Stop by again!
Love how you covered all the details. The flowers you chose are gorgeous.
Thanks Roz! I love the colors, they are working well for fall…just like I planned, stop by again!
Such a beautiful piece you ended up with, Lisa! I love what you created.
I see these beautiful things and they cost quite a lot of money to buy and look at you making it just like that. Pretty flowers too and I can just image this in a beautiful frontward somewhere.
Hi Delia
The wheelbarrow was the cheap part of the project LOL, I went to a specialty nursery for help with this project, the plants cost a little more but I am so happy as I got the needed help and tips to make this work! Just like the saying says…you get what you pay for! Thanks for stopping by!!
What an innovative idea, Lisa! The final picture of your completed project reminded me of an Ikebana arrangement. Beautiful!
Hi Vatsala! Good to hear from you! You have peaked my curiosity, I need to look up Ikebana arrangement, thank you for teaching me something new. Stop by again!