Cut Now, Measure Later : Garden fun: Burlap Makeover for Hanging Baskets

Hello!

IMPORTANT NEWS: SPRING IS TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!

To celebrate that delightful fact, I'm getting my mind ready for some gardening.

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This week's project was born of necessity... as so many are. :) And, bonus, it's ridiculously quick and easy.

I don't know if you're like me, but playing in the dirt is my favorite kind of therapy. The problem for me is that plants and garden things aren't free. Boo.

When I bought pretty hanging baskets with liners made from coconut fibers, my wallet hurt a little bit. That being said, I wasn't too keen on buying replacements for the coconut liners when they started to get really sad after one season. The sun, wind and heat take their toll on these basket liners; and according to the trusty internet, birds love to make nests with the coconut fibers. Silly birds!

Check out the "before" shot of the baskets:

Every time I watered them or it rained, soil would wash out from where the liner was weak or broken. Sad.

I have to give credit to my budget-loving husband, (praise the Lord for him), who found the idea to use burlap as a substitute. :)

Here is what you'll need:

-Scissors

-Burlap (I looked at our local Home Depot and Lowe's stores, but they only sold big rolls of burlap, pre-packaged. I just decided to buy burlap by the yard at the fabric store.)

$3.99 per yard-- but keep an eye out for sales or use a coupon!

Step 1:

Ok, this is probably obvious, but you need to remove the old liner from the basket. Leave the soil and plants in it, and remove it as one piece. Set it aside; it should stay together in one piece.

Step 2:

No measuring is required, but cut the length of burlap you think you'll need for your basket. I was being generous, but I used slightly less than 1 yd of burlap for each basket.

Step 3:

Fold and position the burlap so that you'll have excess over the rim of the basket all the way around it. This may take a few tries, but take your time.

Step 4:

Once the burlap is ready, place the old coconut liner and plants/soil into the new burlap liner.

*Note: My coconut liners were tired and sad, but still mostly intact. I decided it would be better to keep them, thinking that the extra barrier for the plants against heat/cold would be helpful. BUT, if your liner is not salvageable at all, and your plants are dead (*sigh*, it happens), just discard it. Try to save some of the soil if you can, but if it has all fallen out, just use new soil.