As host Rebecca Kolls travels around the country visiting beautiful gardens, she's always amazed at the number of unique ideas that gardeners come up with in their own backyards. Egg Harbor is a little village in Wisconsin where Robert Pence lives. In his beautiful gardens he makes a point of recycling natural materials. For instance, he went into the woods, got an old log and made a terrific hanging basket.
It's quite stunning and very easy to make. First you have to find a dead log, which you can find lying on the ground pretty easily. Then cut the log into chunks and dig out the inside of it. It's really pliable, which might be surprising. If you find one that's rotted enough, you can dig it out fairly easily. That's the key. When you get it hollowed out, you end up with a little planter. It's kind of like a pot, but it's very natural and provides good insulation for plants.
The next step is stapling the mesh wire. It's just hardware cloth that you pick up at the hardware store. You lay that on top of the planter and trim it to fit. Staple it.
Then turn it over and push moss down inside to prevent soil from falling through the screen. You can use anything: leaves, mulch, moss or anything. Push it in nice and tight. Next, add some soil, preferably a good potting soil with peat moss, leaving room for a plant. Tease the plant roots and pack them in tightly. Drill four holes and attach the hanger, crimping the ends to secure it. Water the plant and add more soil if needed.
Take care of the log basket as you would any other planter. In fact, it will take a little less water. And the nice thing about this is, as it weathers it will eventually rot, and you can toss it in your compost pile to recycle it again.
Guests Robert Leland Pence
Artist
Robert Leland Pence Art Gallery
7809 Egg Harbor Rd.
Egg Harbor, WI 54209
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