The price of gardening on a patio

Last weekend called forth a flurry of activity on the terrace, where two trees really needed moving to bigger quarters, the iris needed decongestants, and various other things needed new homes. Fun it was, too, and satisfying in its own way. But boy! The cost!

It’s one of the things all those container gardening books don’t tell you. Two huge plastic pots, about 80 cm diameter and clearly having sat around the nursery for a good long while, which made them more weathered and hence more attractive than newer ones, were 45 euros each. That’s a lot of money.

I complained about this and a friend said “Go to the dump and get some old containers”. Well, maybe. Except that I have no idea whether such a thing as a dump even exists in Rome. Most stuff just gets left by the side of one of the municipal bins in the streets and the raggle-taggle-gypsies-o magic it away for recycling. I’ve only ever seen broken pots there, and never seen anything like an old dustbin or sink or similar. Furthermore, an urban terrace in Rome hardly has the same ambience as, say, a cottage garden, where recycled containers would be more than welcome.

Maybe I need to explore other options. Perhaps Planted Junk by Adam Caplan might help.