How to make planters from old tires


How to Make a DIY Tire Planter

Please support this site by sharing!

Spring is finally here! If you’re anything like me, that means it’s time to get out in the sunshine and play around in your garden. The season is all about making old things new, so follow along with me as I turn “trash into treasure” with the cutest DIY tire planter.

This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. For more information, please see my disclosures.

Supplies Needed

  • Rubber tire
  • Drill
  • Indoor/outdoor spray paint
  • Potting soil
  • Plants:
    • Angelonia (Thriller)
    • Vincas (Filler)
    • Yellow Calibrachoa, Petunias, and Sweet Potato Vine (Spillers)
  • Dropcloth or cardboard (to protect work surface)

How To Make Tire Planters For Your Garden

This is a great project that not only upcycles old tires but also adds a dose of whimsy to your outdoor decorating style.

I chose to hang my tire planter from a tree so my family and I can enjoy the vibrant flowers from a distance. However, you can easily lay your tire planter on the ground, hang it on your patio, or nail it to the wall for a floating planter aesthetic.

If you don’t have a used tire just lying around, no problem! I called a local auto repair shop to ask for my tire. Discount Tire or other tire shops may have spare black tires to donate. You can also try repurposing an old tire swing your kids have outgrown.

Whatever tire you use, make sure it’s durable enough to hold your plants and soil. Some people say that large tractor tires are the most sturdy for a DIY planter, but I’ve found regular car tires work just fine!

1. Clean the tire planter

Before painting your tire, you’ll want to start with a good cleaning. If you’re repurposing an old tire, it’s likely to be caked with dust and dirt. I suggest wearing gardening gloves!

Rubber tire after cleaning

To clean the tire, you can use any heavy-duty washcloth or rag and soapy water. If necessary, you can use a degreaser to remove any oily spots.

Scrub the outside of the tire until all debris is removed. This will help the paint to adhere.

2. Drill drainage holes in the tire

Next, you’ll need to add drainage holes to your tire planter. Using a drill bit or sharp knife, drill 6-8 holes in the bottom of the tire, leaving 1-2 inches of space between them.

This step is super important to drain water out of your planter and avoid root rot. Make sure the drainage holes cover the amount of space you plan to fill with plants.

3. Spray paint the exterior of the tire

Now it’s time to give your tire planter some color! I recommend this spray paint, which is made for both indoor and outdoor use and has a sleek finish. This type of paint also doesn’t require a primer.

I chose a teal color that I had used previously to make pressed flower wall art. You can select any hue that speaks to you based on your decor style. You can even paint multiple planters and use different colors for each one!

Before spray painting, I suggest laying down a dropcloth or pieces of cardboard to protect your work surface. You should always paint in a well-ventilated area, preferably outdoors.

Tip: When spray painting, this tool comes in handy to avoid getting your hands messy.

After spraying one side of your planter, be sure to wait a full hour before painting the other side. If you want to add additional layers of paint, wait one hour in between coats.

Let your planter dry overnight before adding your potting soil.

4. Add potting soil to the tire

Once your tire planter is sporting the color of your choice, it’s time to add your soil. Evenly distribute your potting soil throughout the bottom half of the tire planter (the side with the drainage holes).

I like to use this potting soil for my plants, but feel free to use any potting mix that you prefer for your garden.

You want the height of your soil to be all the way up to the rim of your tire planter without spilling over the sides. This way, the roots of your flowers have enough room to grow.

Note: Make sure to water your potting soil before adding plants.

If you’re looking for more gardening tips this season, be sure to check out my guide on Vegetable Gardening For Beginners!

5. Add plants to the tire planter

Adding plants to your tire planter is all about balancing your display. In my tire planter, I have at least one thriller plant, one filler plant, and one spiller plant.

For the non-gardening experts out there, this is the technique that will keep your container garden looking professional.

Adding Yellow Calibrachoa, Angelonia and Vincas to the tire planter

A thriller plant is the main focal point of your container garden. This plant is vertical in structure, adding height to your garden.

I used Angelonia as the thriller in my tire planter. I love the way the rich, deep purple color is the first thing onlookers’ eyes are drawn to!

Filler plants are mid-sized plants that are typically mounding perennials. These flowers support the thriller by filling in the inside of the planter and adding volume to your display.

For my tire planter filler, I chose to use white and pink Vincas, but there are hundreds of great fillers out there.

A spiller plant looks exactly how it sounds. These plants cascade over the edge of the display and spill down from the sides.

I used Yellow Calibrachoa, Petunias, and Sweet Potato Vine as my spillers. The Yellow Calibrachoa and Petunias add a lovely burst of light color, while the Sweet Potato Vine adds depth and contrast to the arrangement.

Thriller Plant Ideas
  • Angelonia
  • Coreopsis
  • Cordylines
  • Sage
  • Salvia
Filler Plant Ideas
  • Vincas
  • Begonias
  • Caladium
  • Coleus
  • Pentas
  • Petunias
Spiller Plant Ideas
  • Yellow Calibrachoas
  • Creeping Jenny
  • Purple Heart
  • Sweet Potato Vine
  • Trailing lobelia
  • Trailing Petunias

Whichever plants you choose, make sure the plants have the same sun/shade requirements and can grow well together. If you aren’t sure, a local nursery can help you select the perfect combination.

After planting, be sure to water regularly! Hanging tire planters may dry out more quickly than garden beds, so treat them as you would a hanging flower pot.

Displaying Your DIY Tire Planter

Finally, it’s time to choose how you want to display your DIY tire planter. Personally, I went with the hanging tire planter option.

To hang your planter, you’ll need a heavy-duty rope to make a hitch knot and loop it through your tire. Make sure you hang your planter from a strong, sturdy branch.

If you don’t want to hang your planter, you can lay it flat and use it as a raised garden bed. You can also stack tires to make a taller bed for plants with deeper roots. (A stacked tire planter can also keep some pests like rabbits at bay.)

I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial. Let me know in the comments how you plan to use your new DIY tire planter!

Pin it for later!

FAQs

  • Are tires safe to use as planters?

    According to most experts, while tires do contain some harmful chemicals, those toxins are only released upon incineration and are not water-soluble, making tires a safe choice as planters. If you have safety concerns, however, you can choose an alternative planter for edibles like fruits and vegetables and leave the tire planter for decorative displays.

  • How often will I need to water?

    Similar to hanging baskets, hanging tire planters may require frequent watering for the average non-succulent plant. Watering frequency depends heavily on the time of year. During the fall or winter months, you may only need to water your planter every two to three days. In the heat of the summer, you may need to water your planter daily.

  • What do I use as a liner for a flat tire garden?

    You can use a porous landscape fabric to line the bottom of a tire planter that rests on the ground. This will serve as a weed barrier and still allow water to drain.

You Might Also Like…


Please support this site by sharing!

Turn An Old Tire Into A Gorgeous Planter

by Addicted 2 DIY 92 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Share
  • Tweet

Hey there everyone!  Earth day is coming up next month, which means it’s the perfect time of year for people start thinking of ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  I love the challenge of coming up with ways to reduce waste.  If you don’t believe me, you should see my scrap wood pile.  I hate the idea of throwing it away when there could be a great project just begging to be built!  To build this tire planter, I was able to not only recycle an old tire from my local Discount Tire, but I was also able to dig into my scrap wood pile to complete it!

Here’s what you’ll need to make this tire planter:

  • 1 old tire
  • 1 – 4×4 board cut to 3 – 12″ long pieces with 15 degree angles at each end.  The long side and short side of the angles should measure 12″.
  • approx 200′ of 3/8″ sisal rope (or less if you have a bigger diameter)
  • weatherproof stain
  • 2″ pocket hole screws
  • Kreg Jig or angle brackets
  • 2″ bolts and nuts
  • 3/4″ plywood or end of wood spool
  • jigsaw with scroll blade

I grabbed all of my materials to figure out how I was going to build the planter.  I started to use 1×3 wood for the legs, but they just didn’t have enough substance to them, so I grabbed a 4×4 from my scrap pile and cut three legs from it.  I happened to have some wooden spools leftover from another project, so I stole the end off of one of them to make the base for my planter.  I also bought a plastic planter tray to keep the wood from being wet constantly from the flowers.

I lined up my spool on my tire and traced around the tire to get the proper diameter for the base.  I wanted the diameter to be about an inch smaller than the tire all of the way around.  If you don’t have a wood spool, you can easily do this with a piece of plywood.

I grabbed some nuts and bolts from our hardware stash and figured out where I wanted to drill my holes.

Using a 3/8″ drill bit, I drilled four holes through the plywood and into the sidewall of the tire.  I pushed my bolts through and flipped the tire.

It was a little tough to get to the bolts to attach the nuts, but I found that standing on the inside of the sidewall pushed the end of the bolt through enough.

Then I ratcheted all of them tight.

Next it was time to attach the rope.  I used my hot glue gun and some super glue and started gluing the rope on from the bottom edge of the wood base.  I alternated the super glue and the hot glue to ensure good adhesion onto the tire.  The super glue gives the rope a permanent hold to the tire, and the hot glue holds everything in place while that dries.

I kept working my way around the tire, trying to keep the rope tightly wrapped.  This step takes a little bit of time, so I ended up taking the tire into the house and finishing it up while I watched TV.

Figuring out where to attach the legs was tricky.  I’d never built anything with only three legs before.  I ended up finding the center point and positioning the legs in a triangle at the center, then marking the positions with a pen so I could place them after drilling holes.

I needed this base to be really strong to hold the weight of the tire and the flowers I put in it.  I drilled 1 1/2″ pocket holes into two sides of my 4×4 legs.

I glued up the legs and then attached them to the wood bottom using 2″ pocket screws.  If you don’t have a Kreg Jig, you can also use angle braces.

Once the legs were attached and all of the rope was glued on, I sanded the legs and applied weatherproofing stain.  I didn’t take a picture of this step, but I used Behr tintable weatherproofing stain in Padre Brown.  A sample sized can is really all you need.  

I bought a pot of mixed flowers from my local home improvement store and it fit perfectly inside the tire.  I love the idea of flowers, but I’ve also thought about making more for fresh herbs or strawberries!  The height is perfect to keep the bunnies around our house from eating everything.

I absolutely love how the tire planter turned out!  I had struggled with different ways to build this for weeks, but the rope idea finally popped into my head and it came out better than I could have imagined.  Truth be told, my husband hated the idea of me doing a project with a tire, but once he saw the finished planter he really likes it!  To keep up with the upcycling spirit, I also built a tailgate bench using an old ’55 Chevy tailgate that I’ve had lying around.  I knew it would be the perfect compliment to the tire planter!  I’ve also shared the step-by-step tutorial for that project.

Have you ever created any projects from recycled tires?  I’d love it if you shared them!  It’s always fun to see what others can come up with.  If you’re looking to build this project or others with tires, definitely head to your local tire shop.  They’d be happy to help you turn old tires into new creations!  You can even check out how I recycled old tires for Christmas!

SaveSave

SaveSave

Filed Under: Crafts, Projects, Projects for the Home

DIY tire flower pot

Flowerpot for flowers in the form of a toucan

It is not difficult to renew and ennoble the landscape in the garden and summer cottage, you just need to find materials that are already unused and unnecessary at first glance, for sure everyone will always find something like that. Do not rush to get rid of old tires, they can still do a good job, make beautiful and original planters out of them, be sure that such products will definitely not leave anyone indifferent. Many gardeners have managed to appreciate this material, because rubber is quite easy to process, its flexible elastic structure allows you to give products the desired shape.

Types of planters made of tires

The main feature of , which distinguishes the planter from the usual flower pot for plants, is the absence of drainage holes in the bottom of the tank through which excess water flows out. A well-chosen container will not only be a decoration, but will also help facilitate the care of plants.

Pots can be either hanging or floor standing!

Suspended Kashpo

can be used as a decoration for a facade or fence, they can also be hung on trees

KASPO may be simple in the form of cut tires

9000 9000

or a whole covers that can be hung on the wall

Variants of floor planters :

Hanging parrot planter, master class

Materials needed:

  1. old tire, preferably with fine radial tread without metal cord;
  2. iron strip for collar;
  3. sharp knife;
  4. two M8 washers, nut and bolt;
  5. paints and brush;
  6. wrenches;
  7. drill 10 mm;
  8. drill.

Stages of work

  • Using a sharp knife, we make symmetrical cuts on the tire 2/3 (240 degrees) along the bead ring, moisten the knife in soapy water for better glide. We cut the protector and the side part at a distance of 1/3, on the larger side, using a triangular cutout, we separate the side part.
  • Turning the cut tire inside out.
  • Cut out the beak from the trim side.
  • We cut the smaller side of the tire along the length, the cut should be slightly larger than the size of the beak.
  • We insert the beak and use a clamp to compress the halves.
  • We drill a hole with a drill and with the help of two washers, a nut and a bolt we tighten the halves of the head.
  • We cut off a part of the tire from both sides, so we can give the desired shape to the head.
  • Mark the larger side of the tire with chalk, then cut out the tail.
  • We make a clamp from a strip of iron, with its help we tighten the side parts of our planter, if you don’t have a metal strip at hand, use a strong rope.
  • We paint the finished product inside and out. Paint the side rings with black paint, if it is not, you can leave them unpainted.

Hang the finished planter with a strong rope or wire to a horizontal structure, you can put a flowerpot inside.

Photo source: www.prosto-ma-ma.ru

Variants of such a planter can be different, it all depends on how exactly you cut the tire. Use different bright colors to bring all kinds of ideas to life

An unusual planter can also be made in the form of a rooster, as in the photo below. This planter is not hanging, it is easy to install it anywhere, you can build a similar stand for it

Photo source: www.pinterest.com

How to work with tires correctly?
  • A few useful universal tips to help you:
  • winter tires are more pliable and much more convenient to work with than summer tires; when cutting them, you will not need much effort;
  • it is best to choose the most worn tires, the rubber on such wheels is quite soft, which means; and it will be easier to process it;
  • tires with worn tread are much easier to turn out;
  • before creating the product, prepare the material for work in advance, if necessary, thoroughly clean the tire from dirt and foreign objects;
  • If you plan to cut curly elements, you should apply a preliminary markup to make it easier to cut the material, so you will achieve a more accurate result.

Markers or chalk are best used for this purpose.

Swan floor planter

You can think of your own version of the swan, but the main parts should be a neck with a head and wings. The diagram below is quite simple, but can be completed with various decorative details or additional cutouts and scalloped edges if desired.


                                                                      This photo is a planter-pot swan with tires cut out without reinforcing and fixing the neck with wire or other available materials, the head is also made simply without the use of additional elements.

Making a swan planter with your own hands

1. Before starting work, it is advisable to make a diagram for yourself on paper, then draw with chalk on the old cleaned tire the contours along which the details will be cut.


2. After cutting the parts and performing the cuts, it is worth rinse and degrease the surface of the tire, then cover it with a primer, then the product will last longer.

3. Bend the wings of the swan and give them the final shape, the edges of the wings and tail can be jagged, and the neck of the swan can be fixed and given the desired curve with thick wire, later it can be masked with paint.

4. The final part of the work remains: color the resulting product, use additional materials to make it more believable.

For example, you can carefully cut out a head from foam and attach it to the neck of a swan. There can be many options here, someone tries to give the necessary shape immediately when cutting the tire, some even use cut plastic bottles for this, as in the photo below

Photo source: www.mnogo-idei.com

Kashpo in the form of a swan can be done in this way:

How and what is the best way to paint the tire?

Rubber is a material that requires special handling. For painting such products, use the following types of paints:

  • automotive;
  • oil;
  • nitro paint;
  • enamel.

Acrylic enamel is a good option, it can be thinned with water, it is also odorless. Such paint can also be purchased in the form of a spray, in which case it is much more convenient to apply, and it also reduces consumption. To increase the adhesive properties of the oil coloring composition, it is recommended to pre-treat the rubber surface with a primer, so you get rid of possible roughness and irregularities. The most optimal in this case will be the primer composition GF-021, apply it with a brush, it will reduce paint consumption. To enhance the strength of the coating, add a little PVA adhesive to the primer. It is possible to paint products only after the final drying of the primer, it is advisable to paint it on the inside as well.

Planter from tires in the form of a basket

for example, in this photo:

Photo source: www. poly-slovakia.ru

0008

Save

More in this category: DIY wooden flowerpots Flowerpots made of concrete (from cement) with their own hands »

How to make a planter

Tags
Cottage Flowerbeds Life Hacks Garden Gardening Decorations Handmade

It's already quite warm, and, just as birds fly in from warm lands, all summer residents go to their plots in a friendly formation. Therefore, today edition "So Simple!" wants to recommend some unusual, beautiful and practical ideas for decorating a garden or summer cottage.

Car tires is a universal thing that can serve for many more years after disposal. Why is it worth using car tires to create planters and other practical things for a summer residence?

First, this material is easy to find. If you do not have your own car, then you can ask neighbors or acquaintances for unnecessary tires. Secondly, tires work great with tires. You can safely wield an ordinary sharp knife and drill and make almost anything out of tires.

In addition, tires are excellent and weather-resistant material for crafts. Even if you spoil something in the process, it's not scary at all. You can safely use the trimmings as patches, as well as for small details of future creations.

In order to make a planter, you need to find an old tire , take a sharp knife and be inspired by our ideas!

The planter can be either floor standing or hanging. For hanging it is worth using a rope or old chain .

How to make a hanging planter ? Cut off the sector of the tire, make holes for the rope along the edges and pour the earth inside - the planter is ready.

If you already have some skills and experience with this material, try to make these wonderful planters in the form of birds. Experiment and involve children in the process, because they love to make something together with mom and dad. Making your own hanging planters is not at all difficult, it just takes time and a little patience.

You can also make many useful things out of tires for kids. For example, a big climbable dinosaur or a car would be great fun. Make such things quite easy, and the child will get a lot of pleasure!

In addition to cutting and stitching tire pieces, you can also paint them to give your ideas the perfect shape.


Learn more