Easy Birdcage Planter

What a great idea!

It only takes a few hours to make a birdcage planter that you can use for years to brighten up your home/garden.

Using birdcages in the home/garden is one of this year's hottest decorating trends and a fad I personally love.

To make this easy birdcage planter, I used a junk-shop birdcage, a can of spray paint, leftover Christmas decorations and a pre-planted container from the grocery store.

I'm really proud of the results: a fun, funky birdcage planter I can easily move from place to place in the garden to add a pop of color where blooms are just beginning to develop or starting to fade.

So, are you ready to add a little birdcage to your home/garden? If the answer's yes, why not begin with this easy birdcage planter?

Come on. Let's get started!

First, select a birdcage that's easy to open and large enough to house the plants you want.

Unless you intend to use really tiny plants and the sort of tweezers bonsai enthusiasts employ, a small birdcage won't do for this project.

A medium or large-size birdcage, one with a removable bottom and/or lift-off top, will be the easiest to work with, giving you plenty of maneuvering room to arrange and care for your plants.

I checked out lots of vendors while looking for the right birdcage, including websites, craft stores and a few antique shops. I wanted a medium-sized cage, one suitable for the outdoors that I could hang in the crape myrtle in our front yard or set in a flowerbed.

While traveling, I finally found a birdcage that I like at a junk shop for a reasonable price. It has an ornate hard plastic top and bottom (the latter removable), pretty decorative side panels, an attractive shape and it isn't too heavy to hang from a tree when filled with plants.

Perfect!

One you've found the right birdcage, you'll have to decide if you want to use it as is or decorate it in some way.

I opted to spray paint the molded plastic on mine a bright, light blue, leaving the top ring and the cage wires as is, i.e. rusty.

I chose a glossy paint & primer in one by Valspar, so the only prep work was wiping down the cage and covering with tape and pages from an old magazine all the parts that I wanted to remain unpainted.

I almost purchased Rustoleum spray paint, which is comparable in that it too is a paint-primer combo that covers well and lasts, but the color selection of Rustoleum products (at least at Lowe's) was more limited than Valspar's, with only royal blue available, and I wanted a light, bright blue that would really pop.

The Valspar paint covered the cage's hard plastic top and bottom easily and was dry and usable within 30 minutes. I gave the cage two coats, using about half a can of paint.

I also wired a small fake bird (a leftover decoration from a miniature live Christmas tree) to the front of the cage. I know ... a little goofy, but I like it.

When selecting plants, check the bottom of the pot. If roots are trailing from the bottom, it's probably root bound & you might want to pass on purchasing it.

Also look for signs of disease & pests, such as leaves that are curled, burnt looking or stunted; powdery white or sooty black residue, webbing & evidence of chewing.

Finally, pick plants that are just forming buds rather than ones that are in full bloom. That way, you'll be able to enjoy the flowers from blossom to full display.

Because I wanted this project to be easy and because it's sort of a pain to remove the top of this birdcage (I have to unscrew four rusty nuts) I chose a preplanted container of -Calibrachoa that was on sale for $7 at the grocery store.

Calibrachoa looks like a miniature petunia, with hardy 1-inch flowers that drop when they're done, so no deadheading is required, and that's just what I was looking for.

Calibrachoa also lasts a long time and blooms nonstop.

Because I thought warm colors would look good with the bright blue cage, I chose a mix of plants in coral and orange from the MiniFamous Series of Calibrachoa.

In our Zone 7 climate, I won't have to replace them until early winter (if then). When I do replace them, I'll most likely opt for an autumn fern.

The Dirt Farmer has been an active gardener for over 30 years.

She first began gardening as a child alongside her grandfather on her parents' farm.

Today, The Dirt Farmer gardens at home, volunteers at community gardens and continues to learn about gardening through the MD Master Gardener program.

Copyright © 2013 by Jill Spencer. All rights reserved.