Some people I know get the styrofoam fish boxes from grocery stores. They are small window box size. Then you can deform it to round the edges and look like stone using a heat gun. The idea is faux stone look after you deform then paint. Very stinky bad chemicals when you heat styrofoam tho. I tried it and it bothered me to heat the stuff. My dh was insulating our foundation and then covering the insulation with stucco. He stuccoed my fish box and now its a very light weight planter that looks "real". I want to add some paint cuz I don't love the stucco color but it works very well as a planter is light and free. If you do try to melt styrofoam, do it outside and even then it is nasty. Also want to share hint from another thread of using garden perennials and wild plants in containers. I'm trying it this year in 2 of my pots. Kathy

I have a number of containers on my wood deck. It is pressure treated lumber that we waited a year to stain. As a rule I haven't noticed a problem from the containers. Where I notice a problem is the bird feeders with black oil sunflower seeds. They aren't kidding when they call them black oil. They leave black stains that have to be scrubbed off prior to a restain. What I do with containers on the deck is I place them all on 1" tall wood supports (they are just cheap wooden stakes sold in 12 packs or such). This allows me to water the containers, let them drain and then spray the deck underneath the containers so no fertilizer or such has the opportunity to do any damage. I am not at all consistent about it, but the deck is 3 years old and no noticeable damage from the containers. I would definitely recommend elevating containers an inch off the ground on a wood deck exposed to the sun anyway as the wood can get really hot and travel right into the container

I love that this thread is still continuing! I am curious though -- who do you recruit to bring in 20-100 pound boulders, a freezer, and the tub?! (Don't get me wrong -- I'm salavating, wishing I had the room in my 16' X 16' concrete backyard. LOL) Anyway, haven't been here since last summer, so not sure if anyone will be back to see some suggestions I've thought of or learned over the winter, but gonna pretend everyone will, eventually. LOL Oak, for your tree stumps. Hate the idea of getting them to your garden, just to find out they can't be used as a container, so thought of a couple of ways they still can. Succulents or bromeliads?! You're in AZ, so you probably know succulents! Why not stick in some of the tougher varieties, or rock lovers, like Hens and Chicks? Now, I've only been dabbling with them for a couple of years, but Prickly Pear Cactus can take anything, droughts, storms, cold and hot, since they grow throughout the continental states and way into Canada. I bet you can find one or two kinds that can take that kind of plant. I know even less about bromeliads, except the pineapple and air plants, but I found a site that tells you why I think they could work well for you ( http://bsi.org/ ) -- they grow out of three substances: earth, rocks and wood! Exactly the kind of plant(s) your stump has been craving and, if you're anything like me, it helps the main gardening question, "How can I fit even more plants into my limited space?" LOL luna, Bummed that your video isn't available anymore, but sure sounds like I have LOTS of space compared to you! I can offer you two ideas that might put your limited space into maximum use. First, the wall container you spoke about sounded familiar. Might even be the same thing I found, but it's a great use of a wall, if you can mount it (them) on yours. (My house is so old, if I put anything on any outside wall, I wouldn't be surprised if our whole house tipped over. LOL) Now, before checking out the link ( http://www.gardeners.com/Living%20Wall%20Outdoor%20Planter/NewOutdoorPlanters_Cat,37-001RS,default,cp.html ), I have had one really negative experience with Gardener Supply, I bought a pyramid kind of container for my herb garden, and was very disappointed with it. First there was very little room to squeeze herbs into, and second, it was made out of pine, so it rotted out within three years. On the other hand, I've bought many other things from them over the years with about a 60/40 success rate, and the 60% good stuff works so well, it gets me going back again and again, knowing I might be wasting my money, sooooooo, if you do like the wall unit, investigate the type of plastic they use, and what others think of it. If you're creative and handy (or, better yet, know someone who is), maybe you can make a better unit for less. It sure looks good to me! My other idea, is someone else's book -- http://www.amazon.com/McGee-Stuckeys-Bountiful-Container-Vegetables/dp/0761116230/ref=sr_1_6/104-2224842-7107157?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188223103&sr=1-6. I've been reading as much about gardening as I can find, and this book, by far, has taught me how to get the most out of the least amount of space, and it covers two important aspects of gardening for me -- growing edibles, and having beautiful displays at the same time! They're often talking about fitting several crops into one large container, so you know how little space is required. Now these ladies are much smarter then me, and will remain so, even if I keep learning at this same rate for another 2-3 decades, but I did end up notifying them that they did get one thing wrong -- I grew 4 pumpkins (started out as an accident LOL) out of a container. It is possible. It is also waaaaaaaaay too much work to ever try again. LOL Now, there is a cheap way of turning a container into a self-watering container, sorta. Worst comes to worst, it guarantees your soil gets "drip irrigation" past simply watering them. Depending on the size of your containers, use a plastic milk carton, a 2 liter plastic soda bottle, a 20 oz. soda bottle, and, although this won't help much, for small containers, a 12 oz. soda bottle. Poke a few holes on the bottom and towards the bottom on the sides of the containers. While you're filling up your container, bury the bottle, up to its neck in the middle of the container, and keep the bottle cap on whenever you aren't refilling it. (Takes longer to empty out, if no air to replace the water with.) And for those, who are having trouble watering balcony plants, if your balony is 38 feet or less from your nearest faucet, why not buy this gizmo? http://hobbies-leisure.drleonards.com/Hobbies-Leisure/Home-Repair-Tools/39-Foot-Indoor-Hose/37675.cfm And, finally, my main problem is leaning over -- I can't for more then 5-8 second, or will pay for it in increased pain later. Kinda see the problem there, since my garden is all containers? Besides the obvious idea of buying really huge containers (bought 4 huge ones from here for about $25, including shipping - http://www.mortonproducts.com/page.cfm/1464 ) I've been hitting my local FreeCycle Network ( http://www.freecycle.org/ )asking for anything to raise up my containers, so I can water them. I've asked twice a year for three years and hit the mother lode a couple of weekends ago. I now am the proud owner of two shelving units (really one, but was so tall, I made two out of it) for gathering my unused containers and supplies, as well as adding containers of herbs on top of the one next to the grill, so hubby doesn't have to go far to add herbs for our summer meals. My sweet potato vine is on top of the other, so I don't have to keep trimming it back like last year. I also got a round metal table that I'll use the top for my elongated containers, and smaller containers, and will have the 5-gallon buckets with my produce all around its sides. All that for the best price going -- FREE!!! By the time everything is where it is supposed to be (still moving around containers so I can set everything up the way I plan it to be) the only time I'll need to lean over is to pull out my produce, and for that, I'll pull my chair and cheap plastic table (trash picked) to gather the produce together. Only thing my garden needs now are for my gnomes and bear statues to come out and protect the garden, when I'm not there. Hope I've given some helpful solutions to keep everyone into our addiction -- gardening. LOL

My neighbor came over this morning and said how much her oak seems to like my yard more than her yard since it's so bushy over here. I think she's going to have it trimmed soon!!! Yeeee! So I went out exploring different options for adding height to the area today and found some really cool obelisks! These have a beautiful shape! I had to share... But instead of spending money I went home and looked at what I already have around the house. I decided to put a few things I already have as place holders to decide how I like it. Especially before I plunk down money. I moved an old metal table and chairs to underneath the oak. I moved some large terrarium lanterns I already had to the corners. And I put two large pots between the terrariums. Right now I have fairy lights and fake candles in the terrariums (they were on my porch originally - love these terrariums, have had them for years). But I can put plants, statues, gazing balls, etc instead. Twining plants can climb up them. The glass panes come out too so there's that option. The large pots can house roses or even something else to add more of a cascading effect. Roses and irises can go in between with oak friendly plants and natives filling in the space. I actually quite like it! Once she has it trimmed and some plants grow in I can really evaluate how this works. And I didn't need to buy anything new yet! You are all the best. Thank you for helping me start this design!