My Blog List

Sunday, March 25, 2018

THE POOR MAN'S POT FEET

I have a lot of pots. They sit on various surfaces; stone patio, hearth and wooden decks. Most of them are on saucers but even those don't protect the surfaces on which they sit,  from staining. After heavy rainfalls water can gather underneath and cause unsightly mold stains. The answer is, of course, pot feet and there are some really lovely ones out there, but they are expensive. You may also be able to find some inexpensive ones made from plastic.


I was very fortunate to inherit some clay pot feet from a friend who was leaving town. They add a special touch to my garden pots. One of my favorites is the maple leaf.....


but then there is the fun little piggy...


and an acanthus leaf..


For years I have been making my own pot feet out of corks. Yes, that is the reason for that ever growing collection of corks in the kitchen drawer.


Quite simply I cut down the corks to size, depending on how elevated I want the pot to be, and either stick them to the base of my pots saucers or just place them underneath. I use them outside and in the house when I want to protect a glass or wooden surface. The best cutting tool is a sharp serrated knife.


They also come in handy to use as a spacer when hanging something on an outside wall.


If you have a lot you could use them as a light weight pot filler. Anyone have any other ideas for their use in the garden? No cork boards thank you!

20 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea, Jenny! I've been buying the plastic pot feet for use in my shade house but this would be a great alternative. The only other interesting use of corks I've seen that comes to mind is as decorative dressing on top of soil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I once saw that at Lucinda Hutson's garden. You will be visiting it at the Fling.

      Delete
  2. That's a very handy idea -- and all the more reason to have a bottle of wine on the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't ever need a a reason to do that Jane, bit you are right it is a good one.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Not really-just a bit of a repurposing cheapskate!

      Delete
  4. Jenny, yours is a great use of corks. What sort of glue are you using?

    I've used them in the past to make a thematically appropriate "mulch" around the base of a southern style Bottle Tree. I've layered corks between stacked pots to keep similarly sized pots from getting stuck by nesting too tightly together. Occasionally I will use a layer of corks to keep a smaller plastic pot elevated inside a larger ceramic cache and avoid the bottom of the pot from sitting in drained water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the idea to protect stacked pots. I've spent plenty of time trying to get them apart. And also to elevate a pot inside another. Better than crumpled up plastic bags.

      Delete
  5. I love those unusual clay pot feet - I had no idea they made different shaped ones! What a great idea with the cork. I have several pots on our back deck, but the deck is supposed to be made out of some sort of man-made material that will just power wash off. I sure hope that is true, as I have no feet on my pots!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, ANOTHER great excuse for a glass of wine. And here I thought I was drinking wine for my heart...silly me! Brilliant idea, Jenny! Really envy your collection of clay feet, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny! I think I may drink too much for the heart benefit. Yes, the pot feet are really super. I looked at some at the nursery so I may put them on my Christmas list.

      Delete
  7. Such and excellent idea! Thank you for sharing : )

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very clever idea as I need to raise pots and only have a couple of sets of feet. When I showed this to my husband, he said we need to drink more wine.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the leaf feet, but using those wine corks are very clever

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello I am so delighted I located your blog, I really located you by mistake, while I was watching on google for something else, Anyways I am here now and could just like to say thank for a tremendous post and a all round entertaining website. Please do keep up the great work. ceramic bisque

    ReplyDelete
  11. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant...another one of those genius ideas that I would of never thought of myself.

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments unless they are spam comments which will always be removed in comment moderation.