No more traditional plant pots! By planting a zinc tub, you create a beautiful, rustic atmosphere in the garden. Whether it is a zinc bathtub or an old zinc tub is up to you. Your creativity knows no limits. However, if you run out of ideas on how to create an impressive decoration, you will find useful tips and great ideas for replicating them on this page.
What is the best way to plant a zinc tub?
To successfully plant a zinc tub, drill a drainage hole, fill in a drainage layer (e.g. expanded clay), fill with soil and plant selected plants such as succulents, summer flowers, herbs or vegetables. Pay attention to the needs of the respective plant species in terms of substrate, light and water.
What to pay attention to?
Most potted plants cannot tolerate waterlogging. Drainage is therefore urgently needed. The easiest way to create a drain is to drill a hole in the zinc tray. Is the tub too good for you? Then expanded clay (€19.00 at Amazon) serves as a useful alternative. This material is also recommended if your plants need a lot of water. Unlike a hole in the ground, the brown balls absorb the liquid and thus maintain the moisture of the substrate. Expanded clay also prevents the potting soil from compacting in the pot.
Instructions
- Drill a hole for drainage in the bottom of the zinc tray.
- Place the potsherd on top.
- Fill a drainage layer made of expanded clay, Styrofoam or other clay shards into the zinc tray.
- Fill the zinc tub with soil up to 10 cm below the edge.
- Plant plants with sufficient distance.
- Fill the zinc tub with the remaining soil just below the edge.
Large selection of suitable plants
More plants thrive in a zinc tub than you might imagine. The large selection makes it possible for you to design your alternative flower pot according to your own personal taste. For example, you can combine the following types of plants to create the most colorful picture possible:
- Succulents
- blooming summer flowers
- Vegetables and herbs
- Aquatic plants
Which substrate for which plant?
Ordinary flowers feel comfortable in conventional garden soil. Herbs and vegetable plants are a little more demanding due to their increased nutrient requirements. For fruit-bearing plants, you should enrich the soil with organic material such as compost. Succulents, on the other hand, place different demands on the substrate. They do best in sandy soil.
Succulents
Succulents often only reach a small height, but prove to be very robust. Can't find a sheltered place to park your old zinc tub? The succulents, which remain low, do not threaten to break even in strong winds.
Flowering plants for the zinc tub
In the following we will introduce you to a few creative combinations and suitable plants for planting in a zinc tub.
The spring bedConsisting of:
- Daffodils
- Tulips
- Winterlingen
- Snowdrops
- and wood anemones
Since you plant the onion flowers in the zinc tub in autumn, the plant pot needs winter protection. As soon as the planting sprouts in spring, the flowers have the following requirements:
- Penumbra
- moist earth
- nutrient-rich substrate
fragrant violets
Did you know that the flowers of the fragrant violet are edible? The slightly sweet taste is often used in desserts. A zinc tray enriches Viola odorata with its visual advantages. The flower blooms in bright purple from March to April. A partially shaded location creates the best conditions for the fragrant violet to attract numerous bumblebees, butterflies and bees to the garden.
Common Loosestrife
With its impressive yellow flowers, Lysimachia vulgaris is ideal as a background plant in the zinc tub. Smaller flowering plants in very different colors, which you place in the foreground, provide interesting color contrasts.
Plants for practical use
Herbs
Herbs are ideal, especially if you want to plant a comparatively small zinc tub. You can, for example, decorate the windowsill with your own herb bed. Since the plants there get a lot of light at the same time, they will thrive optimally. This not only creates a great look, but also a practical use. Parsley, basil and oregano give your dishes the crucial aroma.
Vegetables
Just like a herb bed in the zinc tub, vegetables such as tomatoes or peppers also promise a worthwhile harvest. Of course, you can also combine the crops with the herbs. The main advantage of this is that the aroma of basil, peppermint or parsley keeps pests away in a completely natural way. So then, here’s to a good neighborhood!
Aquatic plants for the zinc tub
A conventionally planted zinc tub is too boring for you? Then design the tub as a mini pond. In this case, you don't even have to drill a hole in the zinc bathtub for drainage. However, if it is an uncoated specimen, it is necessary to line the tub with pond liner. Otherwise, the material will begin to rust over time. Decorate the vessel with floating plants like
- Water Lilies
- Dwarf cattails
- or Arrowhead
If your zinc tub is in a shady place,
- Water Iris
- Dwarf rush
- or frog spoon
