Vintage Galvanized Wash Tub Herb Garden
Plant your own vintage galvanized wash tub herb garden. The wash tubs make great containers and are the perfect size for veggies, herbs & flowers.
Hello! This is a really fun post so I’m happy you are here…if you’re as ready as I am for some summer fun, then you are definitely in the right place! To start, I’m sharing my vintage galvanized wash tub herb garden.
First up is my herb garden…and this year I bought my herbs early so I didn’t have to go on the hunt. Last year I was hard pressed to find basil. For the past few years I have tried to plant an herb I’ve never used before. Along with my can’t-do-without basil, mint, and rosemary, this year I planted garlic chives and thyme.
I’m excited about the chives because I make roasted potatoes a lot in the summer. I usually use rosemary, but I think the chives will give them a whole different taste. I’ve already started drinking Mint Lemonade too. Having fresh mint is one of my favorite summer pleasures.
Vintage Galvanized Wash Tub Herb Garden: just out your back door!
Growing herbs in containers is easy and having them right outside my door is a definite plus. The most important things to remember are to start out with fresh soil and to make sure the containers get plenty of sun. Any type of container will work as long as it’s got drainage. I didn’t want to drill holes in these wash tubs just in case I ever wanted to use them for something else. I used packing pillows in the bottom before I added the soil. You could also use packing peanuts or empty plastic water/soda bottles.
Important Update June 2016: We had one of the wettest summers ever in 2015 and after one exceptionally heavy rain, my herb gardens overflowed. There was no place for all that water to go since the tubs didn’t have any drainage holes. I decided to go ahead and drill one big hole, in each corner, of each tub. That was ample drainage and they never overflowed again. In a normal year, I think the packing pillows would have worked. However, this was a good lesson learned. I know drilling holes in a vintage container totally deflates the value. I have no plans to sell mine, and the reason I purchased them was for container gardening…so the holes didn’t bother me. If you can’t bring yourself to drill holes in your containers (and I totally understand) just be prepared for some overflow!
I used a couple of vintage buckets for sweet potato vine and some little petunias just to add a little color.
So…that’s the happy corner of my deck. The other corners aren’t so happy yet, but I’m working on it!
2020 Update: We no longer have this deck! It had started to rot, so it had to go. Last summer, we installed a poured concrete patio. Take a look {HERE.}
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