Lin you are the best. I've been thinking about using cinder blocks for the last several months. Tomorrow I will call and see how much they are.
I love that photo you used.

Do shop around for them! Our local garden centers and hardware stores charge twice what they cost at Home Depot!

I would think they would be cheapest at a place that sells brick, mortar, block, etc.

I will woofie, thanks for the heads up.
We have several businesses around Salem that make them. Will be interesting to see if they are even cheaper than Home Depot.

I just check on line for HD. They have one for .99 cents. That sounds pretty good.

We cross posted Vicki.

How timely! I was just thinking about cinder blocks today... I'm cleaning out the "junk room" and have some old wooden bi-fold closet doors I never found a use for. I was thinking that maybe I could build a bed with cinder blocks and put the bi-fold sections in front of them for aesthetics.

I'm retired and I decided I wanted a few strawberries. I went to a place where they make blocks and bricks and bought "seconds" for $.50 a piece. A load of topsoil and strawberry plants and added bunny M & M's. Now I hope I can sit down to pick the berries.



Don

Wonderful gardening idea Plantladylin! I had about 8 left over from my veggie raised garden project and stacked them in my garden stuff storage area along the side of the house. I use the blocks to store all my bamboo sticks and other plant stakes.

DEM, thank you for that idea on seconds. That would make it about 1/2 price.

I'm so old I remember when concrete block was 18 cents a piece

Beam me back Scottie.

um ... I did use a couple of old cinderblocks at our old house years ago for planters, but I don't remember submitting this tip.

And, the photo is not mine ... credit goes to Greenfield (Diana)! Great photo!

That is why the photo looked familiar. I've been to Diana's place. It is amazing.

Still an awesome tip, who ever submitted it. Thanks Dianna and Lin

I just love that raised bed in her photo ... makes me envious. I wish I could have something like that but we live in a deed restricted community and we are extremely limited to what we can do in our own yard.

Even the backyard?

They look better if you paint them with a roller. "Sand" kind of fades into the background. You c an smooth the surface somewhat by rubbing two blocks against each other, or rubbing them with a brick. Then you have to wash the dust off before painting.

Hiding the holes with some kind of top cover (like a paving stone) also makes them look better. That also makes it easier to set things down on them.

I think it would take a triple row before they were high enough to sit on!

Someone planted trailing things like lobelia or alyssum in the holes, and they hide the blocks a little.

You know, I have never had any luck planting things in the holes. They always end up dying on me. What am I doing wrong??? I even tried lining the holes with plastic grow bags so the water wouldn't all run out the bottom immediately. sigh.

What did you plant in the holes woofie?