When I wrote about my Bromeliad dish garden I referenced the ReBuilding Center, later I realized I've never dedicated an entire post to this amazing Portland resource. Time to right that wrong!
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The Rebuilding Center takes donations of reusable building materials. According to their website... "Every day, eight tons of building materials move through the Rebuilding Center warehouse, with all donations and sales serving our mission to reduce waste and build local community."
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There are several buildings and many departments in the complex. I tend to head right to what I think of as the "vents and ducts" area.
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This piece had great potential for replacing the problem part of my dish garden, if only it were smaller.
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I so love the possibilities of shiny metal!
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These! OMG! They were aged just right. A pair of tall planters...can't you see it? Somehow I left them behind. As I write that was 3 days ago. I wonder if they're still there?
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Hmmm...
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And this! I see a long shallow planter.
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Fabulous!
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They have wood too, if you're into that sort of thing.
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In another section these perforated squares have been haunting me. No doubt most of you know what they are, but I do not. I just know they're terribly cool.
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And there are buckets of them!
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There arealso a ton of light fixtures...
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And bathroom bits.
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I rarely see the front of the store (usually entering from the alley), but it is impressive!
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Love the fence too, although the color is not a favorite.
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Now that we've had a quick little tour around the store how about I share some of the things I've done with my ReBuilding Center finds?
I have no idea what this piece of metal really is, but once I found it I knew it would be a planter. It's all one piece, open at the bottom, but I sealed off the long base while still allowing a little water to drain.
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This is year two for the Aloe and Sedum combo. I suppose next year I'd better pull them out, root-prune, and refresh the soil.
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This is one of many traditionally "pot-shaped" metal pieces that have become planters.
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This one is open at the bottom, essentially just a ring. I used it to help increase the drainage for the roots of this Agave parry var. couesii, it is planted in the ground and will stay here over winter.
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Ditto for the piece the Agave bracteosa is planted in. Where as the Agave nickelsiae planter has a solid bottom and gets moved around.
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This old metal funnel has held a few different Agaves.
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Each only spend a season in such root-cramped quarters, but they look good while they're doing it!
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That metal drum was a ReBuilding score. Again I have no idea what it's supposed to be. There's a hole in the top with a piece of PVC glued into it. Great for planting!
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Of course the pie-plate and other pieces used to make the dish garden were recently written about here.
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I still love it!
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This tall perforated piece of metal is playing trellis to a Passionflower.
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And a few loops of metal wire are allowing another Passionflower vine to use the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate' tree for support without overwhelming it.
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I just have to remember to train it around the wire every so often.
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I do love the ReBuilding Center and hope you have something in your city similarly inspiring for re-purposed "could-be" gardeny things!
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All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
The Rebuilding Center takes donations of reusable building materials. According to their website... "Every day, eight tons of building materials move through the Rebuilding Center warehouse, with all donations and sales serving our mission to reduce waste and build local community."
There are several buildings and many departments in the complex. I tend to head right to what I think of as the "vents and ducts" area.
This piece had great potential for replacing the problem part of my dish garden, if only it were smaller.
I so love the possibilities of shiny metal!
These! OMG! They were aged just right. A pair of tall planters...can't you see it? Somehow I left them behind. As I write that was 3 days ago. I wonder if they're still there?
Hmmm...
And this! I see a long shallow planter.
Fabulous!
They have wood too, if you're into that sort of thing.
In another section these perforated squares have been haunting me. No doubt most of you know what they are, but I do not. I just know they're terribly cool.
And there are buckets of them!
There arealso a ton of light fixtures...
And bathroom bits.
I rarely see the front of the store (usually entering from the alley), but it is impressive!
Love the fence too, although the color is not a favorite.
Now that we've had a quick little tour around the store how about I share some of the things I've done with my ReBuilding Center finds?
I have no idea what this piece of metal really is, but once I found it I knew it would be a planter. It's all one piece, open at the bottom, but I sealed off the long base while still allowing a little water to drain.
This is year two for the Aloe and Sedum combo. I suppose next year I'd better pull them out, root-prune, and refresh the soil.
This is one of many traditionally "pot-shaped" metal pieces that have become planters.
This one is open at the bottom, essentially just a ring. I used it to help increase the drainage for the roots of this Agave parry var. couesii, it is planted in the ground and will stay here over winter.
Ditto for the piece the Agave bracteosa is planted in. Where as the Agave nickelsiae planter has a solid bottom and gets moved around.
This old metal funnel has held a few different Agaves.
Each only spend a season in such root-cramped quarters, but they look good while they're doing it!
That metal drum was a ReBuilding score. Again I have no idea what it's supposed to be. There's a hole in the top with a piece of PVC glued into it. Great for planting!
Of course the pie-plate and other pieces used to make the dish garden were recently written about here.
I still love it!
This tall perforated piece of metal is playing trellis to a Passionflower.
And a few loops of metal wire are allowing another Passionflower vine to use the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate' tree for support without overwhelming it.
I just have to remember to train it around the wire every so often.
I do love the ReBuilding Center and hope you have something in your city similarly inspiring for re-purposed "could-be" gardeny things!
All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.