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Milk cans are no longer used today, but they look decorative and evoke melancholic feelings. Therefore, they are often used as a decorative element, for example as a flower pot. In the following you will find out what to look out for when you want to plant your milk can.
Milk cans are rarely used for milk these days
Prepare milk can
If you want to enjoy your planted milk can for a long time, you should prepare it accordingly. Milk churns are almost always made of metal and metal is known to rust over time. If that doesn't bother you or you're even a fan of rusty decorative elements à la shabby-chic, just skip to the next point. However, if you want to prevent rusting, you should protect your milk jug. If you want to use it indoors, protection on the inside wall is sufficient, if you want to put the milk jug in the garden or on the terrace, you should also treat it on the outside. To do this, simply paint them on the outside with a waterproof metal paint for outdoor use. This can be transparent or colored.
There are various methods to protect the pot from moisture from the inside:
- Apply a waterproof varnish to the inside as well.
- Line the inside of your milk jug with a waterproof foil, e.g. pond foil.
- Place a waterproof container in your milk jug and plant in it.
The drainage: is it possible without it?
In principle, it is advisable to always plant drainage in each flower pot to prevent waterlogging. This is especially true outdoors, where downpours can fall from the sky and flood the milk churn. If you only use your milk jug indoors, you can possibly do without the drainage, but you should then pour it with a lot of finesse and make sure there is a drainage layer in the jug.
Plant the milk can step by step
- Use a metal drill to drill one or more holes in the bottom of the milk jug.
- Paint and/or line your milk churn as above.
- Cover the drainage holes with potsherds or larger rocks to prevent them from clogging.
- Put a one to several centimeter thick layer of broken pottery, pebbles or expanded clay (19.73€) in the jug.
- Then fill it up to a good half with soil and plant your plant(s).
- Then fill the gaps with soil. Make sure that there is a margin of at least two centimeters between the soil and the rim of the milk can so that you can water well.