Fall Planter ideas!

When my summer planters start looking tired, that's when I start looking around my yard to see what I can repurpose and get creative with fall planter ideas. This is my favorite fall planter. It is big, full and bright. And, it was cheap to put together because I reused so many things!

this to Pinterest

My favorite front porch fall planter ideas happen when I'm taking inventory of what I have and what is on sale.   I reused, repurposed and relocated my back deck planter as the basis for my front fall planter.  This was my spring planter that had geraniums and hosta's in it.  I Loved it!

Remember me showing you how I used a galvanized tub to make this planter in the spring?  No?  Then take a look at my Galvanized planter this spring.

Cost saving tip

If you only remember one thing from this post, remember this purple fountain grass container idea.

In the spring purple fountain grass is small and inexpensive (under $5.00). If you buy purple fountain grass in the fall, it can be $20 per plant!!   If you bought yours in the spring, by the time fall comes, they are nice and big and look awesome.   I tucked two into this planter as you can see below. You'll see them in the fall planter I show you.

I hauled this big planter to my front porch.  I cut down the hostas (that were already looking really sad) and pulled out the geraniums and petunias.

The next image below is what my fall planter looks like now!

Reuse items from your summer containers!

My biggest way to reuse my summer containers is to keep the grasses! In the image below, I took out everything except the purple fountain grass. This is my favorite planter grass for my summer planters and it looks amazing in my fall ones.

See the pretty purple fountain grass?  I love it!  It's from my spring/summer planter that I showed you with the hostas and geraniums.  I plopped in a nice pumpkin, front and center.  

Hint to preserve your pumpkins

I sink a plastic pot (from my mums) right underneath where the pumpkin is.  So it doesn't sit on wet soil and rot. It makes a big difference. And, that way the pumpkin doesn't freeze to the ground later in the fall/early winter.

I've had people ask about my dragonfly stakes.  They aren't available anymore but this cute rusty container stake would look great in your fall porch pot.

Fall planter tip about mums

I added two mums.  Just the small cheap ones ($4.99 each).  Buy the cheap small mums. Get small ones and don't feel bad swapping them out in the fall. It is an inexpensive way to keep your fall planters looking great.

Use dried hydrangeas to fill in the bare spots

It did still look a little bare.  Luckily, I still have tons of vanilla strawberry hydrangeas so I just cut a few of those and filled the bare spaces.   It just amazes me how quick and easily those hydrangeas dry.  And they retain their color too!  If you have hydrangea plants, don't forget to use them in your fall decorating.  They make a big impact and they are just so pretty (and free!). If you don't want your dried hydrangeas to turn brown, make sure they are in a covered area where they don't get rained on.

Seriously, I used some hydrangeas, pumpkins, and mums to totally transform my summer container garden to a fall one!  And it was cheap to do!

{Sigh}  As much as I love the fall, I am just soooooo nervous about this coming winter.  I think last year's winter scarred me for life!  Anyone else feel that way??

Oh, look who came to inspect!  My little buddy Raji.

Let me show you some more fall planters.  My neighbor also just pulled some of her summer plantings, kept some (including the purple fountain grass) and then also added some inexpensive mums.

And here is another one.

I love the simplicity of the mums and the tall grasses.  Looks awesome! Don't forget, alysum is also great for fall planters. It can withstand a pretty heavy frost.

So, the moral of the story.  Buy your grasses in the spring when they are small and inexpensive.  Nurture them, and let them grow and then enjoy them in the fall!  They are essentially free and then you have a beautiful, and full fall planter.

More easy fall planters

Here is a newer Easy, Inexpensive Fall Planters post. I created a really simple fall planter that I love. And a window planter too!

Awesome!

P.S.   For a little fun, why not make a little solar-powered jack-o-lantern ?  No worries about candles or electrical cords!  And, I used a drill  so it was easy.  Take a peek at the tutorial where I explain in detail, how I made my solar-powered jack-o-lantern.

Here is what I used to drill the circles on my pumpkin.  It's called a hole saw set.   And the set is cheap and can be used over and over.  No need to get an expensive set if you are just drilling holes in pumpkins

Below is a Pinterest pin. If you have a Pinterest account, please pin this for me!

*First published Sept. 6, 2015.