I've been thinking of a way to ensure all the butterfly friendly seeds I've been trading for have a decent chance of making it. The back pastures of the ranch are literally overgrown with grass and native brush and I tried tossing out seeds last year but very few made it maturity.
Am planning on discing up a path alongside the dirt roads that go around the perimeter and sowing seeds there in the hopes that seeds actually sown won't get eaten by the ground squirrels, quails and doves etc.
However, since we're working on the pond, re-digging and re-shaping it - we've got tons of soil piled up as a berm around it. Got to thinking maybe we should flatten the berm for a better view of the pond and move the soil further away and make a few small hills or 'mesas' for a change of pace. You know how some butterflies like perching up on hills to scope out the area.
Also got to thinking it would be easier to lay down some railroad ties and make a few raised flower beds which would help keep the native grass and weeds in check.
Then another bolt of lightening hit me - that I could use the old farm tractor tires we tossed in a back corner of junk and use a few of them for flower beds too! There's plenty of soil from the pond berm that could be used to fill them up. For sure I'd be able to keep those weeded easier. I'd really like to plant each one with a specific larval hosts like milkweed, dill, aristolochia fimbriata etc. but am wondering if they'd end up looking like an eyesore.
Main question...do you think the black rubber will be too hot? They'd be out in the open and our temperatures often hit 100+ during the Summer months.
If anyone has any tractor tire flower bed photos I'd like to see them. Also suggestions about painting them a lighter color to ward off the heat and any advice about using tractor tires for flower beds.
~ Cat
Has anyone used tractor tires as flower beds?
I have seen it done but not done it myself. You can even spray paint the tires pretty colors. I think it is a grand idea and recycling at the same time. I would put some good weed cloth between the ground and tire before filling with dirt
I like that idea abou the weed barrier cloth. It sure would keep the weeds out!!!
However, do you think the depth of the tire (which is about 12-14 inches) is sufficient for roots to grow?
Hope someone posts photos or links for a looksee.
~ Cat
yes for perennials, not for shrubs and trees. Oh another thing is I would put good size drain holes every few inches on the bottom of the tire so it doesn't hold to much water and rot your plants
I have a neighbor that wants to give one away. If anyone in the FW area wants it. It is about 4.5 foot across with 3 foot center.
Cat, Wuv'n Acres Daylily Gardens has lots of cute garden ideas and one whole page on her website dedicated to recycled tires used as planters.
http://www.wuvie.net/tireplanter.htm
well you can plant trees in them too but you would have to dig into the ground under the tire to loosen the soil so the roots can grow down into the ground
Donna,
Are you talking about drilling holes on the bottom side of the tire that will be laying on the ground? Do you mean the big hole in the middle that would be in contact with the weed barrier cloth/soil isn't enough for drainage? Ya know this area is usually under a drought...don't think water would ever be a problem. :o) Sure would be nice if it rained more often. But I think drilling more holes is a good idea....every little bit helps and it might provide a tad of aeriation.
Do you think the huge tractor tires have to be turned inside out? I've seen regular car tires made into pots...and I think they do that to add more growing room? Or decorative petals?
So many things to think of :o) I'll check out Wuvie's site.
Thanks ya'll.
~ Cat
This message was edited Jul 12, 2007 8:01 AM
yes drill some hole in the bottom side of tire where it touches the ground. The inside of the tire will be filled with dirt and the roots will grow in side it
Yes Wuvies tire were to cute
I have a piece of a tire around my mailbox. Well, it looks like a tire. Actually it's more of a rubber ring that was on the bottom of a DOT caution barrel. The only problem I have is finding xerscape plants to plant inside. I'm terrible about keeping that little garden watered, it's so far away from all my other little gardens. I'm thinking of planting 'New Gold' Lantana in it. As it gets bigger, it can cascade over the rubber. Pouting daylilies and wandering jew are in it now.
I've got some creeping yellow sedum in my little mailbox bed (hot and dry and seldom hand-watered), and it's just going to town. Any sort of succulents would probably work (hens and chicks, for example). I also have good luck with Salvia and Coreopsis there, and there are some dwarf shasta daisies, dianthus, creeping thyme, and little hardy geraniums doing pretty well also.
Ginger (from Australia) posted a photo recently that I simply can't find, but it was a retaining wall made from old tires, in staggered rows, sloping back as it went up... made for wonderful planting pockets all along the face of the wall!
I read about staking tires to the hillsides to slow down errosion by filling them with plants. Sounds like a great idea...but alas, no hills out here :o)
~ Cat
But you did mention berms... so possibly you could use 2 or 3 layers of old tires in their creation, if you have the space... (they definitely take up more room than cinder blocks or wood to edge a raised bed). I know that's probably a larger project than you had in mind for your tires... and moving dozens of old tires into place for a berm would be hard labor!
I have a tire planter in front by the road. I have tried different things in it and it dries out real fast even with mulch. This year I put Ice Plant in it and they are doing fine and very pretty blooms, Bev
I'll bet drying out would be less of a problem in those big tractor tires... just like having a larger container rather than a small one... but polymer moisture crystals (one of my favorite garden products) would probably still be a good addition to any tire planter.
I will try that Critter Thanks Bev
There was a co-op going for the moisture crystals earlier this year, but here's the site I order from (same source the co-op used), http://www.watersorb.com/index.htm. They're definitely cheaper than buying those little 12 oz bottles of Soil Moist at Home Depot... and a little of this stuff goes a long way, so read the directions for application and don't think that more would be better, LOL (think of a drifting tide of jello cubes spilling out of your containers after a good rain).