How To Make Your Own Garden Pots | Cheap Pots That Last

Shop planters can chew through a budget, and the shapes on the shelf rarely fit every corner, railing, or windowsill. for pots of every size. Learning to make your own garden pots gives you control over size, weight, and style while reusing sturdy containers you already have. With a drill, a hand saw, and a bit of planning, buckets, tins, crates, and even broken sinks can become safe homes for flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

Why Make Your Own Garden Pots

Homemade pots shine on three fronts: fit, cost, and waste. You can match the footprint of a narrow balcony, tuck slim planters along a window ledge, or build deep containers for tomatoes without paying extra for odd sizes. You reuse materials that might head to the bin and cut down on new plastic. When you shape and drill your own pots, you control drainage, which drives root health in containers.

DIY pots also make it easier to group plants by watering needs. Shallow boxes suit herbs and salad leaves, while tall tubs help shrubs and fruit bushes stretch their roots.

Quick Comparison Of Common Pot Materials

Before you start cutting and drilling, compare the most common materials for homemade garden pots. The table below shows how each option behaves outside and what to watch for when you adapt it.

Material	Pros	Watch For
Plastic Buckets And Tubs	Lightweight, easy to drill, often free from food or paint shops	Thin walls can crack in strong sun; avoid tubs that held harsh chemicals
Metal Cans And Tins	Strong, slim profile, suits window ledges and narrow railings	Rust over time, can heat up in strong sun and scorch roots
Timber Boxes And Crates	Natural look, simple to build or adapt from pallets	Rot if wood sits in water; needs liner or wood treatment safe for food crops
Terracotta Shards And Broken Pots	Handy for lining drainage holes, adds texture to troughs and sinks	Fragile, heavy, and not a full container on their own
Concrete Or Cement Moulds	Hard wearing, stable in wind, can be cast to many shapes	Heavy to move, need time to cure and leach before planting
Fabric Grow Bags	Fold flat for storage, good air flow to roots, handy for potatoes	Shorter life span and can dry out fast in hot, windy spots
Upcycled Household Containers	Cheap entry point, playful shapes, perfect for herbs and small flowers	Not all plastics handle sun well; some coatings flake or peel with age

How To Make Your Own Garden Pots With Recycled Materials

This method suits most adapted containers. Pick a safe base, add drainage holes, line if needed, fill with potting mix, then plant and water in. You can apply the same steps to a paint bucket, a catering tin, or a simple timber crate.

Choose Safe Containers And Sizes

Start with food grade plastics, clean metal tins, or bare timber that has not been treated with old lead paint or creosote. Scrub off labels and residue with hot, soapy water and let everything dry. Match the size of the pot to the plant: a single basil plant manages in a pot about 15 centimetres across, while a tomato with a cage needs a container at least 30 centimetres wide and deep. When you plan homemade garden pots for a small balcony, check how much weight your railings and floor can carry and keep heavy containers close to solid walls.

Add Reliable Drainage Holes

Almost every plant in a container needs at least one open drainage hole. Without it, roots sit in stale water and rot. A simple rule from many extension services is that water must be able to leave the pot as freely as it enters, which means open holes near the base and a potting mix that drains well. Gardening advisers at the Illinois Extension container drainage guide stress that a hole at the bottom of the container is critical for root health.

For plastic buckets, drill several holes across the base with a standard drill bit, spacing them a few centimetres apart. Metal tins need a metal bit and patience; clamp the can, punch a starter mark with a nail, then drill slowly. Timber boxes can have slots cut with a saw along the bottom boards. Line big holes with a scrap of mesh, shade netting, or broken terracotta so soil stays in place while water escapes.

Line Or Seal Where Needed

Some materials need a barrier between soil and container walls. Timber boxes last longer when you staple thick plastic along the inside, punch drainage slits in the base, and fold the liner neatly over the top edge. Concrete pots should cure for at least a week, then soak in clean water and drain a few times to leach excess lime before planting.

Fill With The Right Potting Mix

Skip garden soil in homemade containers. Heavy soil compacts inside narrow pots and starves roots of air. Use a peat free potting mix or a blend designed for containers that holds moisture yet still drains. The Royal Horticultural Society notes that container plants depend on open, well aerated compost for long term health in its container gardening advice. Fill the pot to about two centimetres below the rim so there is space for watering, then gently firm the mix with your hands so it settles but does not compact into a solid lump.

Plant And Water In

Set each plant at the same depth it grew in its original pot. Make a hole in the mix with your hand, slide the root ball in, and backfill so there are no large air pockets. Water slowly until you see a clear flow from the drainage holes. This pulls soil into gaps around the roots and gives them a smooth start in their new home.

Creative Ideas For Homemade Garden Pots

Once you handle the basics, you can turn many sturdy containers into planters. Checks stay the same: materials, enough depth for roots, and clear drainage holes.

DIY Pot Idea	Best Use	Durability
Upcycled Metal Cans On A Rail	Herbs, strawberries, trailing flowers along balconies	One to three seasons before rust shows
Timber Crate Planters	Salad mixes, shallow rooted flowers, compact peppers	Three to five seasons with a liner and feet
Stacked Concrete Block Planters	Succulents, alpines, low water plants along paths	Ten or more seasons, slow wear
Fabric Grow Bags In Milk Crates	Potatoes, courgettes, bush tomatoes on patios	Two to four seasons before fabric frays
Reclaimed Sink Or Trough	Alpines, rock garden plants, compact bulbs	Long term feature with little change

Caring For Plants In Homemade Pots

Pots made from buckets, crates, or concrete still follow the same care rules as standard planters. Most plants in containers dry out faster than plants in open ground, so regular watering is part of the deal. Check moisture with a finger pushed a few centimetres into the mix. If it feels dry at that depth, water until you see a steady trickle from the drainage holes.

Feed long term plantings with slow release granules mixed into the top layer in spring, then top up with liquid feed through the main growing months. Scrape away any crust of old compost or salt around the rim; that build up can appear after repeated watering with hard tap water or high salt feed. In cold snaps, move smaller pots against a wall or group them so they shelter one another.

Common Mistakes With Homemade Garden Pots

Many problems with homemade pots start with poor drainage. A row of painted tins with no holes might look neat on a fence, but one heavy shower can leave every plant sitting in water. Drill at least one hole in each base, skip gravel in the bottom, and rely on clear openings instead. Studies from several university extensions show that a gravel layer can trap a band of water above it and keep roots wetter than plain mix alone.

Another common slip is using heavy garden soil in tall containers. Dense soil compacts under its own weight, squeezes out air, and turns to mud during wet spells. Use potting mix and add compost on top through the season instead of filling the entire pot with soil from a bed. Thin plastic tubs can also catch gardeners out; dark tubs in strong sun heat quickly and cook roots. Homemade concrete pots need time to cure before they touch roots; fresh cement leaches lime and raises the pH around young roots, so give new pots several cycles of soaking and drying in clean water before you plant.

Final Tips For Long Lasting Homemade Pots

Set each container on feet, bricks, or timber offcuts so water can leave the drainage holes freely. Turn pots a quarter turn every few weeks so one side does not fade faster than the rest in sun. Once a year, lift plants that stay in the same pot and trim or renew the mix so roots have space again.

As you gain confidence with how to make your own garden pots, keep a small notebook with rough sketches, sizes, and notes on which designs last longest. Over a couple of seasons you will see patterns; maybe timber crates thrive on your shaded balcony while metal tins suit a sunny fence by the kitchen. Homemade containers reward a bit of effort with lower costs, flexible layouts, and a steady stream of creative projects.