No more conventional planters! By planting a zinc tub, you create a beautiful, rustic atmosphere in the garden. Whether it is a zinc bathtub or an old zinc tub is up to you. Your creativity knows no limits. However, if you run out of ideas on how to create an impressive decoration, you will find useful tips and great ideas for rebuilding on this page.

Flowering plants look particularly beautiful in a rustic zinc tub

Pay attention to what?

Most potted plants do not tolerate waterlogging. Therefore, drainage is urgently needed. The easiest way to create a drain is to drill a hole in the zinc tub. Is the vat too good for you? Then expanded clay (19.73€) serves as a useful alternative. This material is also recommended if your plants have a high water requirement. Unlike a hole in the ground, the brown beads absorb the liquid and thus maintain the moisture of the substrate. In addition, expanded clay prevents the potting soil from compacting in the bucket.

manual

  1. Drill a drainage hole in the bottom of the zinc tub.
  2. Place pottery shard on top.
  3. Fill the drainage layer made of expanded clay, styrofoam or other shards of clay into the zinc tub.
  4. Fill the zinc tub with soil up to 10 cm below the edge.
  5. Plant plants with sufficient distance.
  6. Fill the zinc tub with the remaining soil to just below the edge.

Large selection of suitable plants

More plants will thrive in a zinc tub than you might think. The large selection makes it possible for you to design your alternative flower pot according to your own personal taste. For example, you can combine the following types of plants to create the most colorful picture possible:

  • succulents
  • blooming summer flowers
  • vegetables and herbs
  • aquatic plants

Which substrate for which plant?

Ordinary flowers do well in ordinary garden soil. Herbs and vegetables are a bit more demanding due to increased nutrient requirements. For fruit-bearing plants, you should enrich the soil with organic material such as compost. Succulents, on the other hand, make different demands on the substrate. They do best in sandy soil.

succulents

Succulents often only reach a low growth height, but prove to be very robust. Can't find a sheltered place for your old zinc tub? The low-staying succulents do not threaten to snap off even in strong winds.

Flowering plants for the zinc tub

Below we present a few creative combinations and suitable plants for planting in a zinc tub.

The spring bed
Consisting of:

  • daffodils
  • tulips
  • winterlings
  • snowdrop
  • and wood anemones

Since you plant the bulb flowers in the zinc tub in autumn, the planter needs winter protection. As soon as the planting sprout in spring, the flowers make the following demands:

  • penumbra
  • damp earth
  • nutrient-rich substrate

Sweet Violet

Did you know that sweet violet flowers are edible? The slightly sweet taste is often used in desserts. A zinc tub enriches Viola odorata with its optical advantages. The flower blooms in bright violet from March to April. A partially shaded location creates the best conditions for the sweet violet to attract numerous bumblebees, butterflies and bees to the garden.

Common loosestrife

With its impressive, yellow flowers, Lysimachia vulgaris is ideal as a background plant in the zinc tub. Smaller flowering plants in very different colors, which you put in the foreground, provide interesting color contrasts.

Plants for practical use

herbs

Herbs are ideal, especially if you want to plant a comparatively small zinc tub. You can decorate the windowsill with your own herb bed, for example. Since the plants get a lot of light there at the same time, they will thrive optimally. This not only creates a great look, but also a practical benefit. Parsley, basil and oregano give your dishes the decisive aroma.

vegetables

Just as with a herb bed in the zinc tub, vegetables such as tomatoes or peppers also promise a worthwhile harvest. Of course, you can also combine the useful plants with the herbs. The main advantage of this is that the aroma of basil, peppermint or parsley keeps pests away in a completely natural way. Well then, let's be good neighbors!

Aquatic plants for the zinc tub

A conventionally planted zinc tub is too boring for you? Then design the vat as a mini pond. In this case, you don't even have to drill a hole in the zinc bathtub for drainage. However, if it is an uncoated specimen, it is necessary to line the tub with pond liner. Otherwise, the material will begin to rust over time. Decorate the vessel with floating plants like

  • water lilies
  • Dwarf Cattails
  • or arrowhead

If your zinc tub is in a shady place, are suitable

  • water iris
  • dwarf rush
  • or frog spoon

Category:

Garden design