I want to place 7-10 Bromeliad billbergia on plant stands in an area, off the ground to show off their blooms. Any ideas for an inexpensive way to do this? Thought about inverted clay pots but would rather have them higher off the ground, say 18"-2 feet. Any great ideas for me?

Not familiar with the plant but Google shows some beauties!

Did you catch the "Ideas" area post regarding PVC for raised pots last week? Applies more to mounting stands in the ground....But....so many similar pipe products...a world of possibilities. From steel to inexpensive corrugated drain pipe. Black iron? Copper would be pricey but searching salvage 'sellers' (aka junkers) on say Craigslist for example? The black iron doesn't scrap high, might be a good look too if you can find appropriate diameters in the right lengths. Terra Cotta pots would look really nice with clay drain pipe pieces being a common garden color.

Just some thoughts, check out the post and the wheels might start spinning?

http://garden.org/ideas/view/S...

You could make a stand from pvc pipe. I did a couple of ATP articles on building a pedestal that could be adapted to a plant stand, or use the basic ideas in the articles to create your own.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/H...

http://garden.org/ideas/view/H...

Thanks so much for the wonderful links!!

Upside down plastic bins or crates.
Tacky plastic, but they work and are cheap.

Five gallon buckets turned upside down.

You could "wallpaper" them with contact paper.

Or delicatessens throw away many white, 4-gallon buckets that are more graceful than most 5-gallon buckets. If you soak off the labels (and/or use Goo Gone), you have a clean white truncated cone that isn't TOO ugly.

Or stack two columns of cinder blocks to get the right height, then lay a very sturdy board between them, like college-stricken-poverty-students did for bookshelves.

Hmmmmm. Rick may have hit on it. I have about a dozen cinder blocks sitting around needing to be used. Hmmmmmm. That would be the cheapest alternative so far! Cinder block can be painted. I did it in college! Thanks Rick!

>> Cinder block can be painted.

It may take less paint and give a better finish if you rub off some of the rough spots first. If you have some chunks of broken cinder block, those are easier to use for "polishing" the surface than a whole, heavy cinder block. It might go easier wet, I'm not sure. We did the "polishing" on an indoor wall and couldn't easily hose it down.

I was just talking about the use of stone tools by Homo Whatever 2.5 million years ago, on another website - but this is a really NEO Neolithic application. High-tech rocks.

My DH acts like a Homo Whatever of the New Millennium . I think he would love to get dusty on doing that project! Great idea, the polished, look btw.

In this little container collection I have upside-down crates, upside-down pots, stacked paving stones, cinder blocks, an old metal TV stand and one real plant stand. Just make sure it is sturdy and won't collapse from the weight when you water.

Yeah! Unnngh! Me bang rocks!

"Paint? What is this 'paint'?"

Arrange the plants to hide the stands

Joanne. Your collection is beautiful!!!

Joanne, that is fantastic! The wind would decimate that here, but I love the effect. You've got me thinking about making a little "hill bed."

Curbside chairs with broken seats are great plant stands, depending on the nature of the break, style of yard/gardens. Those with those woven wicker seats that bust out are perfect! Old grills make interesting planters too. Anywhere nearby where they build stuff with wood? Probably tons of scraps for free that one could nail together in interesting shapes.

@RickCorey. Now let me get this straight because Caveman Husband thinks I am a crazy woman. You can sand/polish cement cinder blocks (then stain it) to possibly look similar to those awesome cement floors?? Can my DH use his "Uhhhgh! Unnngh! Unnngh-grinder/sander" and get dirty with it??

ShadyGreenThumb said:I want to place 7-10 Bromeliad billbergia on plant stands in an area, off the ground to show off their blooms. Any ideas for an inexpensive way to do this? Thought about inverted clay pots but would rather have them higher off the ground, say 18"-2 feet. Any great ideas for me?

Go to Big Lots and buy wire plant stands -- not sure how tall they are, though... They average $3-5, generally. We used them for raised feeders for dogs (which means they might be too short)

>> (then stain it) to possibly look similar to those awesome cement floors??

Sorry, not that I know of! I meant just to knock off the high spots and smooth them a little, so that paint (or the primer coat) goes farther and produces a smoother painted finish without having to apply as many coats.

(P.S. Someone once posted that they had painted cinder blocks using a roller and household latex paint (thinned with water for some reason). It took a few coats because the cinder blocks sucked up the first coat really fast. But even a few coats gave her the color she wanted (sand).)

I never thought of staining it to try to preserve the "pebbled" surface. With what, urethane? Hmmm! I have seen marble floors where the marble had tiny spiral shells embedded in it (fossils?). That would really be a Neo-Neolithic look!

>> Can my DH use his "Uhhhgh! Unnngh! Unnngh-grinder/sander" and get dirty with it??

Certainly! I hadn't thought of a power tool. It was the "banging rocks together" aspect that appealed to my Inner Cave Man, or at least rubbing them against each other to get a smoother surface. It would chew up less sandpaper if the first pass was cinder-block-against-cinder-block.

One definition of Neolithic vs. Paleolithic is that the New Stone Age has polished stone tools made sharper and smoother by grinding. So that is really getting in touch with our ancient DIY ancestry.
http://www.diffen.com/differen...

Now that I think about it, sure a belt sander is just like grinding rocks together! High tech rocks! If we could bring belt sanders back into pre-history (along with generators), they might worship us as DIY gods!

Uhhhgh! Unnngh! Ugga-Unnngh!!

This is my Stonehenge-in-the-Seniors'-Park-look:

So, here I am today taking a moment to do some tidying up between rain drops (YAY!). I spy MORE tomato plant cages my neighbor gave to me. I have about 10, yeah 10, maybe 12? mostly large ones and a few smaller ones. I am thinking, can remove a rung easy enough, set them in the ground and put the plant pots on top?? I think I am a Genius. What do you think???

Making what you need from what you have, with minimum effort, sounds like Genius to me!

If one isn't sturdy enough, you could double them up.

Tree rounds. They look nice and are sturdy. You can vary the height to create a fuller effect.