Kitty litter buckets

[hengal]

I have a ton of these buckets around the place, and due to some issues I'm having with my back, I'd really like to garden up higher next year..... like actually standing I'm looking for ideas on exactly what to build to get these buckets up off the ground high enough to use. I've seen those pricey cedar garden tables that allow for stand up gardening, but they are very expensive and I certainly don't need that with all the buckets and spare wood I have in the barn. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you!

[J2E1]

I don't know how much room you have but I'd get a couple cheap sawhorses, even the plastic ones since they'll be outside and some treated wood to sit the buckets on. They'll be around waist height, perfect for getting your hands into and playing in the dirt.

[Katey]

Once you get the dirt into the buckets they'll be pretty heavy. I'd build a base with cinder blocks and put your wood tabletop on top of that.

[Windy in Kansas]

As I recall those buckets degrade rapidly when exposed to the sunlight.

[Katey]

You could paint them to protect the outsides from sunlight.

[hengal]

Thanks for the ideas. I guess cinder blocks would be the way to go since they will be heavy. I already have a few painted with that Krylon Fusion paint and plan on doing the rest of them like that too. Thanks again!

[Little Quacker in OR]

I like gardening with the soil up at just below waist height too. Using wood(2'X12's") for either 24"X 48" beds or 48 " squares to hold the soil(you can lean over and reach the middle from all sides)and as suggested already, set the garden square beds up on cement blocks. Works a treat.

You can easily put PVC pipe in the soil at the corners and make a frame for putting string on and planting peas and green beans in them too. They are easy to surround with netting if needed to keep deer, rabbits etc out of your veggies.

Squash and Pumpkins grow over the sides and hang down for easy harvesting.

I don't know what a kitty litter bucket is but good luck with this and have fun!

LQ

I'm SO glad that you posted this !! I have 25 litter buckets and a bunch of cinder blocks ! Last season I threw leaves, grass clippings and a bit of soil in each bucket..by Summer this year, I had wonderful wormy compost..!!

Getting ready to do the same again as soon as the rain stops..As far as a raised bed using these buckets..if I'm reading correctly, I'll need to paint the buckets..stack the cinder blocks and get a ? piece of heavy plywood to lay across the blocks?? Do you stain the plywood???

[gina kay]

I've never thought of using the buckets for that purpose. Sounds great. I've used mine to put homemade laundry soap in and have made feeders (for cats, dogs and chickens) out of them by cutting an opening in one of the sides.

[hengal]

Originally Posted by bostonlesley

I'm SO glad that you posted this !! I have 25 litter buckets and a bunch of cinder blocks ! Last season I threw leaves, grass clippings and a bit of soil in each bucket..by Summer this year, I had wonderful wormy compost..!!

Getting ready to do the same again as soon as the rain stops..As far as a raised bed using these buckets..if I'm reading correctly, I'll need to paint the buckets..stack the cinder blocks and get a ? piece of heavy plywood to lay across the blocks?? Do you stain the plywood???

The compost idea is a great one!
My original intent when painting some of the buckets was to have a uniform look - plus just covering up the cat litter thing you know? But I've read on here that it will also protect the buckets.
I think I'm just going to arrange cinder blocks in rows and put the buckets directly on top of them. without the wood.... not sure yet. I do think it would be nice to have it all "enclosed" - but not to where it hinders reaching anything. Hard to explain. I haven't worked out all the details and I'm still open for suggestions and/or pics of what others have done.

I spoke with my neighbor (a master gardener) about this today..she said that it would be a great idea to divide a sheet of plywood in half, and place each half over cinder blocks, leaving a "path" in between the raised buckets..also. she suggested measuring the diameter of the buckets and sawing a hole in the plywood for each bucket..that way, the bucket couldn't be blown over.

In my neck of the woods, we have very severe thunderstorms with sustained winds over 60MPH, large hail, etc..which wreaks havoc on gardens..if I just put the buckets up on cinder blocks, they'd be blown away on a weekly basis during storm season..Soooooo..I'm imagining "recessed" painted buckets with a nice wide path in between the set up..yeah !!

[ronbre]

hmmmm if you have so many of them..maybe stack them..put one on the bottom with gravel or stone or rubble or dirt or whatever, and then cut holes or completely cut off the bottom of the next one up and put it over the bottom one, with dirt and stuff in it as well..that would get it up 2 high..could even make them 3 high..wire them together if need be, or duct tape..they would be too heavy to blow over but if you put four stacks in a grouping they could support each other.

no buying plywood or cement blocks