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Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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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 (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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#handsoccupied #intarsia #colorworkknitting #intarsiaknitting
When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
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What does your dream knitting day look like? 
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Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
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Are you looking for some late summer reading picks Are you looking for some late summer reading picks? Here are 3 fresh titles for makers of all ages - full reviews are on my bl0g, along with a giveaway for a copy of Knitstrips! The 🔗 is where you’d think. 😉
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) / Knitstrips by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar (@ik_knitstrips) / This Long Tread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
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(^ I heard a rumor that if I tell you to exit this app, no one will see this post, so plz forgive the song & dance just in case it matters. 🙈)
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I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
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Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
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