Although it is hard to believe, summer is already coming to a close. My lawn is finally feeling crispy, but the rest of my deck deserves some green! Instead of a paper craft, this week I wanted to share a few of my garden projects using some inexpensive Ikea items. Refresh your outdoor space for the last leg of summer, or bring these inside to decorate your home!

 

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  Vertical Bygel Garden

I was inspired to create this vertical container garden from several other projects I found on Pinterest. We bought this pre finished white trellis from Home Depot for less than $10 earlier in the summer. The containers, of course, are from Ikea. (Anyone who knows me is aware I have a slight obsession with Ikea. My husband loathes the days I tell him we will be making a quick stop, which of course it never is…)

These Bygel containers are so versatile and so cheap- less than a dollar a piece. And I knew with the built-in handle, I could easily hook them onto the trellis for a flexible arrangement. The containers already have holes in the bottom for drainage, but since I wanted to possibly bring them inside, I used a hot glue gun to plug up the holes. I also put a line of hot glue underneath the handle for grip to prevent the heavy finished planters from slipping off of the trellis.

I wanted to label each container especially for our herbs. I used painter’s tape to block off a rectangle, and painted them with chalkboard paint. You could just as easily use chalkboard sticker labels found at most craft or office supply stores. I then labeled each container by hand using a chalkboard marker. I filled the containers with our favorite herbs, flowers, and replanted succulents from our front yard.

What I love about this project is the flexibility. Once the weather turns, I could bring the plants inside and hang them on a Bygel rail in the kitchen.

 

• Ikea Lantern Terrarium

To water them, just open the door of the lantern and mist the plants and soil.

My next Ikea garden project was even easier. I was itching to make a trendy terrarium of my own this summer, and I had been eyeing the Borrby candle lanterns for some time. At $7.99 for the small lantern, I could no longer talk myself out of it and picked one up.

My only challenge was to figure out how to keep the dirt from falling out of the base of the lantern. After some middle-of-the-store brainstorming, my clever husband found that the square acrylic bases of the Vindruva greenhouse are a prefect fit for the bottom of the lantern.

Once at home, all I had to do was bend a few of the metal tabs inside the lantern by hand, pop in the acrylic base, and start planting. I arranged a retaining wall of sorts with some small river rocks from our garden (especially on the opening side of the lantern), filled the base with some potting soil, and harvested a few more succulents from my front yard. The acrylic base at the bottom has kept the terrarium relatively mess free, but if I ever decide to make the lantern a terrarium permanently, I think I will take the time to silicone or hot glue around the edges of the base to seal it in.

Thanks for reading! I hope you are inspired by my Ikea container gardens to create your own, and to hold onto summer for a least a bit longer! Visit my Home Exterior & Yard Pinterest Board to browse other gardening ideas that I have pinned and collected for inspiration. Leave me comment and let me know what you think!