Dark green plastic hardly reflects a gardener's preferences. With this design, a rain barrel certainly doesn't fit into the cottage garden. But here it is more in demand than ever, because it enables very environmentally friendly and economical water consumption. Retailers now also offer attractive models, but why spend a lot of money when you can just as easily decorate your rain barrel yourself? All you need is a little craftsmanship, materials that you can buy almost anywhere and the tips you can find on this page.
How can you visually enhance a rain barrel?
To beautify a rain barrel, you can plant it, paint it, add cladding or even design it as a small garden pond. Always take an environmentally friendly approach when beautifying.
Ideas to beautify a rain barrel
- Plant rain barrel
- Paint the rain barrel
- Disguise the rain barrel
- Rain barrel as a garden pond
Plant rain barrel
After a while, climbing plants hide the unsightly plastic behind dense, flowering growth. However, when choosing a plant, you should pay attention to a plant that does not grow too much. After all, the rain barrel should be accessible at all times. The best way to give the growth a boost is to wrap the shoots around the rain barrel and thus prevent them from spreading too much.
You can also place plants directly in the rain barrel. Floating plants are then the varieties of choice. Many of them produce oxygen and thus use algae as the basis for their development. Further information on planting a rain barrel can be found here.
Paint the rain barrel
Alternatively, match the color of the rain barrel to your garden. Use the same color as the object the rain barrel is in front of. In front of a red shed, a rain barrel, which is also red, is hardly noticeable. Depending on the material, there may of course be color differences. Also pay attention to environmentally friendly, pollutant-free paint (€14.00 on Amazon). Alternatively, focus on the rain barrel. Eye-catching, colorful paint jobs can also look good.
Tip
Most of the time children want to help with the garden design. Let your little ones dip their hands in paint and leave handprints on the rain barrel.
You can find even more tips for painting the rain barrel here.
Disguise the rain barrel
High-quality rain barrels come in the design of a wooden barrel. You can easily make this look yourself. Read here how to dress up your rain barrel.
Rain barrel as a garden pond
As mentioned above, you can put water lilies or similar plants in the rain barrel. If you bury the water tank, no one will realize that it is actually a rain barrel. Visually it gives the impression of a garden pond. Integrate your collection container into the garden by enclosing it with a wall (similar to a fountain) or even breeding goldfish in the rain barrel.
