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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How-to: Cinder Block Planters

March 28, 2012 4 Comments

I love my apartment. I love that I have a yard that we only share with a couple people (who rarely use it). The only problem with my yard is that its soil isn’t very hospitable for growing a vegetable garden. Last year, I learned this lesson the hard way. So this year, I built a railroad tie flower garden. PS, railroad ties are treated with toxic chemicals that shouldn’t come in contact with plants intended to be eaten, so don’t make a railroad tie garden hoping to raise veggies in it!

In the spirit of further beautifying my yard, I decided to make a super mod planter out of cinder blocks. Full disclosure, I first saw the idea at one of my favorite architecture/home decor blogs, Freshome. Here’s my take on it; scroll down for the how-to:

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Supplies

lots of cinder blocks! get a mixture of blocks with two holes and one hole

potting soil

some plants of your choosing

a couple of ceramic tiles

Directions

Arrange your cinder blocks in a pattern that’s appropriate for your space. Fair warning – cinder blocks are really heavy! I pulled most of the muscles in my body the other day when I was hauling them around my yard finding just the right place for my garden. I’m kind of an idiot sometimes.

By the way, if you need a retaining wall, a cinder block garden is a cute option to serve your needs!

Once you settle on a location and setup, you need to fill the openings that are going to be planters with potting soil. Sometimes the openings will line up. I had one opening that went down four layers of blocks-worth, and I realized I’d be wasting a ton of potting soil filling that deep opening. I had some ceramic tiles laying around and used those to add bottoms to the two too-deep openings I had in my arrangement.

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

 

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Pot your plants in each opening as you see fit. I got a variety of colorful perennials, so they’ll come back every year. My yard doesn’t have any grass (wtf, landlord?), which had me dying for some color down there last year. I’m pretty excited about this so far, but I do think I’ll add more flowers as I find ones I like. The perennials in them now are all varieties that bloom in spring. I think it might be nice to get some that bloom mid-summer and in fall. If you have any suggestions for me for other flowers to incorporate, let me know!

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Simple Cinder Block Planter (that can double as a retaining wall) at handsoccupied.com

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to, Summer Tagged With: cheap, cinder blocks, diy, flowers, garden, gardening, retaining wall

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. EYA

    July 24, 2013 at 9:02 am

    Great diy concrete olanter idea…i will use in my village garden

    Reply
  2. Jen P

    November 19, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    I absolutely love this idea. I am just wondering how to keep the soil in the ones that stick out above ground like they do in the last photo?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Heidi

      November 19, 2014 at 8:34 pm

      I’m so glad you love it! For simplicity’s sake, I just avoided putting plants in any of the openings that stick out above the ground, but I used ceramic tiles to line the bottom of the openings when needed in other parts of the planter.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 6 Creative Planters | creative gift ideas & news at catching fireflies says:
    May 7, 2013 at 1:12 pm

    […] you are tight on space,  this Cinder Block Garden is just the ticket and can pack a lot of punch.  Over on the Hands Occupied Blog, Heidi explains […]

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
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#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
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#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
Work continues this evening on my absurd punch nee Work continues this evening on my absurd punch needle pro wrestling inspired championship belt project. I’ve finished most of the front pretty quickly thanks to the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky yarn I’m using. For now, I’ve got a couple more weeks until Wrestlemania, & I’m on track to finish this in time! 
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The biggest question I have is what to do with the “plates” - the open circles in the picture. Should I try to closely replicate the Universal Championship belt or go rogue and make it wool themed? Please advise in the comments. ☺️🧶🙏🏻🐑 
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Pictured: The front of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool with navy yarn running through it rests on top of the work. 
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#kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #punchneedle #rugmaking #primarycolors #punchneedlerughooking #punchneedlelove #wool #wip #yarncraft #yarn #yarnaddict
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