Forum home› Garden design
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Garden feature cart wheel ?

a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
in Garden design
While we had a van to pick up something else from one of these salvage type places, the OH persuaded me to 2 large metal cart wheels. They are big, heavy things, but painting them and leaning them against the house really doesn’t do it for me. Any other thoughts on how to make them a feature, as I’m a bit stuck and wish we hadn’t got them. 
«13

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    hand them to OH and say " you wanted them, you deal with them?"  :D
    Not my idea of " a feature" but I'd love to see what you do with them.
    Devon.
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    I know. He says ‘I just liked them’. Tsk. 
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    You could put them on the ground and use the divisions created by the spokes to create a herb garden. Take care, though, because by year 2 the sage will be swamping everything and the mint will be making a break for freedom.

    Alternatively I might go for old school municipal gardens style planting. My preference is usually for a restricted palette so maybe alternating purple and blue pansies or purple and butterscotch/orange for a bolder look. Or deep blue and pale blue lobelia.

    Personally I am not so keen on them but an alpine garden is another possibility filling between the spokes with a soil and gravel mix.

    Whatever you choose to do, resist the urge to paint them and lean them against your house wall. I agree with you here. Unless you have a converted barn or possibly a cottage it just looks naff.
    Rutland, England
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Suggest he gets a stetson and a team of horses to go with them?  ;)

    Not my cup of tea either, but have you thought about laying them down and using them as herb or alpine planters? Strawberries? 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    edited March 2019
    Herbs or alpines were my first thought too🙂

    Maybe different coloured thymes in one. Sempervivums in the other would be very low maintenance but there are also many pretty alpines to choose from.

    Could even be a non-planted feature on the ground with different pebbles / shingle / shells - think of the mosaics people sometimes make in paths.

    Oooh - I want one now!
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Topbird said:

    Oooh - I want one now!
    @a1154, I see a sales opportunity. ;)
    Devon.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    eBay  may be a good bet😀

    get OH to lay them out, dig the ground below and plant them up. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    If they're wooden they'll rot if laid flat and used as planters or plant dividers.

    How tall are they?  I think they'd make a very attractive divider if you can erect 3 posts to a suitable height and fix the wheels between them.  Then you can either paint them or not, grow plants either side.  They could be fixed at an angle instead of straight.  All sorts of possibilities.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Maybe use them to fan-train some fruit trees or bushes? Or a novelty garden bench with topiary horses.


    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    Very funny wild edges. I was trying for NOT naff.
    erm...they are 4 foot ish, metal not wood, existing paint a bit scruffy but not corroded. 
Sign In or Register to comment.