I was so excited this summer when I found the best dollar store hack for my containers. I have a couple of woven resin containers that came with plastic liners but the problem was the liners were only about 4″ deep and falling apart. When you use shallow containers they dry out way too quickly. I have enough to water with a half acre of gardens. I wanted to use only a couple of containers this summer. So what could I do to come up with a solution?
I happened to be in my local Dollarama store and saw this planting bag and wondered how it would work. At first I thought I would try it out as is just to see if it really worked as a garden bed. I was skeptical about it. After all it was only $3.50.
When I received plants from Proven Winners in late May I realized I would have to create a container planting. My garden was full, I had no other option. I decided to see if the planting bag would fit inside the tall slender containers.
As you can see the bag fit not too badly and I filled it with soil gradually making sure to allow the bag to expand to each side. Once the container was filled with soil all I had to do was add some organic fertilizer and get the plants in.
So how did the planting bag work over the garden season? I found that because the bag is a felt like material it actually helped to keep moisture in without being waterlogged. The planting bag allowed water to drain well.
Yesterday I had to start emptying my containers to prepare for winter. Would the planting bags still be intact after five months of watering and having to hold multiple plants? As you can see the plants were very happy in this container. I carefully dug out each plant, some to compost and some to overwinter. I say carefully because I hoped the planting bag would be in one piece. I had several people say it would mold or bottom out. I had no idea what to expect. Of course, at $3.50 it wasn’t a huge loss if it did.
I am happy to say that the planting bags came out in one piece. Yes, fibrous roots grew through the fabric a bit but they will die off. I had to brush away a few sow bugs from underneath and I let the bags dry in the sun. They will be stored in the garage and reused next spring.
So never discount a dollar store garden hack until you have tried it. You just never know, it may work after all. Have you had success with dollar store garden merchandise? I would love to hear about it.
