By Colleen Moulding
From junk shop chair to garden feature!
First you need an old dining chair with a push out seat as this is where the flowers will be growing. If you haven't got one lying around in a garage or shed, ask around friends and family or offer a couple of dollars/pounds for one in a junk shop, charity shop or thrift store.
If you want to paint the chair this is best done first, although a chair showing signs of age looks very good for this project too.
You can get a very nice effect by painting your chair
with one colour, leaving it to dry completely, and then applying another different colour all over. When this second coat is completely dry, lightly sand off the second coat in the places that would naturally have received the most wear and the first colour will show through giving a very pretty distressed look.
When you have your chair frame looking the way you like it, fix a double layer of chicken wire where the seat used to be, in a bowl shape. A heavy duty staple gun is ideal for this job.
Next line the chicken wire with a good layer of pre soaked sphagnum moss as this will be needed to stop the soil falling through the wire.
When you have a good layer of moss in place, sit a plant pot saucer or small shallow dish on top of it, just to retain a little of the water and stop it dripping through quite so much. Then fill your moss lined chicken wire with soil or compost and add your plants.
Pansies look very good in these chairs, as does a cushion of busy lizzies. Climbing plants such as sweet peas will wrap their tendrils around the chair back giving another dimension to the display and a couple of variegated ivies or other trailing plants would look splendid curling down the legs.
About The Author: Colleen Moulding is a
freelance writer from England where she has
had many features on parenting, childcare, travel,
the Internet and many more subjects published in national
magazines and newspapers.
http://www.allthatwomenwant.com
You did an excellent job of giving directions on how to make a garden chair. Although I have seen them before I didn't have a clue how they were put together. A big round of applause to you! This is a project I just may try in the near future! Thanx! (05/02/2009)
By Susan Wolfe
You explained how to do this so clearly. It is a perfect project for me. I know I have 2 chairs for the job and plenty of peat moss, and marigold seeds, and many colors of paint.
Thanks! (05/02/2009)
By nancy
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