The Culvert Pipe Planter

My memory is not what it used to be but I do recalling blogging about our culvert pipe planters in the past.  However, this "revisit" of the topic showcases some more recent uses (and photos) of these "industrial style", vertical planting opportunities.  It's important to mention that our reason for using this was not only to showcase plants growing out of them but to feature the culvert pipes themselves.  You'll see some fun color utilized each year and we move them to different locations annually (and sometimes skip a year of use too!).  Securing the pipes in an upright fashion simply involves digging a 3' deep hole slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe and tamping the soil around the pipe once it's placed and leveled.  We don't fill these entire culverts with soil.  We have installed rebar rod across the opening at about 3' from the top of the pipe.  That "X" of support allows us to insert garbage cans or other containers in to the culvert pipe.  These "inserts" have their own drainage and soil preparations so are essentially containers secured within in a culvert pipe container.  Access to watering can be tricky so keep that in mind with placement but the vertical contribution is quite strong with these.  We have six 18" diameter culvert pipes (seen below) which are about 9' tall (3' underground and 6' above...) and also five 24" diameter culvert pipes which are about 12' tall (3' underground and 9' above...).  They have been fun to work with and we enjoy using them out in the gardens.  They'll have a long future here for sure!

Today was relatively quiet around the Horticulture Center although we had some nice help both inside and out.  We had another 2" of fluffy snow last night and Bill O. came in to clear paths and tidy things up.  Larry H. was out in the gardens for about 5 hours collecting more lights!  He is a "go-getter" for sure and trudged through 12" of snow to get at some of these lights.  Urban processed some lights in the Horticulture Center and then helped Dr. Gredler with some painting projects.  Kay was in to help with preparing  presentation handouts and to process some of our incoming seed orders.  Bev D. worked on some Spring Plant Sale (Mother's Day weekend!) duties.  We also saw Tom J. and a couple of others today.  I continue to sink my teeth in to ordering of all sorts but with a strong focus on needs for the Spring Plant Sale vegetables and herbs.