A 5 Gallon Bucket Garden

Vegetable gardening can seem like a huge task, but if you create a container garden for your vegetables, you can maintain your plants much easier. All you need are some 5 gallon buckets. If you want to mix things up a little, you can also use galvanized tubs or even camouflage buckets. If you have some plants that don't need as much space, you can add smaller plastic buckets to the mix for a stepping stone effect to your container garden.

First step is to prep your buckets:
Be sure that your bucket is either new, or if it is a recycled bucket that it was never used to hold any type of chemical since you will be growing foods for consumption in them.
Using a drill, make drainage holes in the bottom of your bucket, they should be about 5/8". You will need about 10 or so holes for good drainage.
To keep the holes from getting stopped up with soil, add about 1-2" of gravel to the bottom of you bucket.
Fill with a good potting soil, fill to within 1.5" from the top of the bucket.

Plant your Vegetables:
Choose your vegetables that you want to plant, be sure you read how much space each plant needs, how much sun, and water.
Plant your plants according to their needs. Try not to plant too close to the sides of the bucket or you risk your plants getting too hot. Keep them at least 1.75" from the edge of the bucket.
If you have plants that are small enough to plant near one another, keep in mind which plants make good companions to each other.
Place your buckets in your yard for the best sunlight, and easy access for watering. You will need to check container plants daily for whether they need water or not as container plants tend to dry out more quickly.

Be sure to harvest fruits and vegetables as they ripen, this will help your plants continue to produce throughout the season.

Photo by Becky Cortino, found on Flickr

Choosing a Planter for your Plants

It is time to head out into the yard and pretty everything up for spring. There are so many options available for people to make their yards look great, so to help you out we thought we would go over a few things that can help you to choose the right planters.

Before we delve into how to choose, first make sure any planters you are considering for use in your garden have drainage holes. We love using tin buckets in our gardens, but we do have to drill holes in the bottom to ensure proper drainage, we also add about 1-2 inches of gravel so that the holes do not get clogged with dirt.

First decide what types of plants you want in your garden. This will help you to decide what type of planters or containers you need. You will also need to know how big the root system of the plant will be, this will help to determine how wide and deep of a planter you will need.

How much water will the plant need? How much sun? Determine the positioning of your planter and the type of material used by these things. If you use a Terra cotta planter keep in mind that they can dry out quickly, unless you plan on watering frequently you will only want to have plants that need small amounts of water in Terra cotta planters. Synthetic or resin pots tend to retain moisture better and should be used for plants that need more water. Position your planters where they will get the optimal amount of sunshine for the plants that are in them. If you are planting more than one plant in a container then be sure that those two plants have similar needs.

If you live in an area where the climate tends to be colder then you will either want to put your planters up in storage each year when winter comes or you will want to invest in frost safe containers such as wood, stone, or cement.

If you need a planter that needs to be moved around then keep in mind the weight that you can comfortably move and purchase planters that are small enough to be moved easily.

Using Buckets in Weddings

Believe it or not, but we find our website: Bucket Outlet, being listed as a wedding resource and it is for very good reason. Buckets can be very useful in wedding scenarios. There are dozens of ways to use buckets or wash tubs in weddings.

For a rustic look on your tables at your reception a metal bucket can make a great vase.

Wooden Tulips Image by Vera Kratochvil

A small galvanized bucket can be a great way for the flower girl to carry the flower petals at your wedding.

Buckets can decorate the sides of your aisle as they hold flowers for decor.

Use a bucket to hold ice to keep wine cool.

Wine On Ice Image by Anne Lowe

These are just a few of many ideas. How have you seen buckets being used in weddings?