Marley Craig
Not only do ladders add height and interest, but provides open storage like a set of funky shelves. See our best Flea Market Gardening ideas and some fun projects you can do! Hint: If you have a white house, choose natural wood trellis and plant any color rose! The steps can be widened or made into long shelves for planters and vines. With bright paint or decorated with a collection of birdhouses, galvanized pails or watering cans they become garden art. Kirk Willis “This is a favorite project… My wife found this old wooden extension ladder on a curb with a “free” sign.
The planter boxes can be purchased or built from 1 x 6 boards and 1 x 2 trim wood around the top edges. She says, “I love my version of a ladder planter and I plan to put a shelf at the top with some decorative bird houses but I need more brackets!” And usually you can find them for $5 at yard sales and I like both the tall ones and the short ones in the garden.”
Spray paint a metal or wood ladder, lay it on the ground and plant in the openings He picked it up for me and my daughter helped make it so pretty that people wouldn’t ask “Ummm, hey? While you wait, drill holes in the ladder steps where you’d like to stagger your pots as shown.
Attach bolts so they stick up about two inches and thread the nuts above and below and cinch down tightly. Dip the eraser end of the pencil into the black paint and make dots like a strawberry has.
Laura Goines, from The Little Shop Antiques and Gardens, uses a ladder to hang up the watering cans she uses. LouJean Bailey “I found this old wooden ladder at a local flea market while out “junking” with my daughter. Every item on the ladder came from various junk stores or yard sales with the exception of the old boot on the bottom. Also, the old rusty shovel hanging in front was one that I “played” with while gardening with my grandmother as a child.
My husband screwed on birdhouses to each step.” This can be done with a wooden or old metal ladder,…painted or not. . . like Jeanne Sammons said the other day it’s nice to have the yard and Flea Market art to focus on when the plants aren’t pretty anymore in summer.”
Ann Elias masked off stripes on her galvanized pails to add a pop of color to her ladder. Barb Rosen, from ‘Our Fairfield Home & Garden‘ showed us her display of three ladders in red.
Paint a cottage garden step ladder like Debbi Oeltjen’s! In the color of your choice, prime and paint a ladder and two 1 x 12 boards cut to the lengths you like.
Nail or screw small wood blocks to the back ‘legs’ opposite each of the bottom two steps. Set in the shelves and have fun arranging your flower pots and treasures.
