Freshen up your porch for Spring! | DIY Spring Planter

Say goodbye to your brown, dried out holiday planter! Freshen up your porch with a “springtime” planter to hold you over until the warm weather and planting season arrives.

After a very long, quite cold, rather miserable, dragged-out winter, (including a March that only saw one – maybe two – days above 5 degrees) my “Christmas” planter had to go. Asap.

Because we are still at least 6-8 weeks away from being able to plant flowers, I needed to fill my container with something that could survive in the cold and with very little sun (my porch only gets direct sunlight for about 1-2 hours in the early morning). Also, it needs to last, as we’re expecting a baby in two weeks, so the month of May will be hectic and there’s a good chance we’ll be late getting anything planted this year.

I wanted the planter to look bright and pretty for Spring, but without looking too “Easter,” (so no eggs, ribbon, etc.) so the best options were Pussy Willows and fake Forsythia. I also had a birch tree branch and some plain brown “twiggy stick things” left over from previous holiday planters (I hold on to all of this stuff – you never know when it can be re-used for something else).

The black/brown soil was looking a bit bleak so I wanted to cover it up with something. I would have loved to use some flat river bed rocks like these. But I didn’t want to spend money on them (or time shopping for them for that matter!)

I searched around the house for a substitute and decided on these brown wicker balls (purchased about 6 years ago at Pier 1 Imports)

I then decided to switch up the brown bench for a yellow chair, which I normally save for summer, however I feel that additional pop of yellow really helps to brighten things up and makes the planter stand out more.

On a side note – the chair was another DIY project from 2 years ago. I found it placed with the garbage bins at the end of a neighbour’s driveway. It was a dull beige colour and really shabby looking with peeling paint, but otherwise in fairly decent condition. I snatched it up before the garbage men could and repainted it using Benjamin Moore Yellow Rain Coat (100% Acrylic Premium Exterior Latex Paint, soft gloss finish).

And here’s the final look!

Total Time Required: 1–2 hours, depending on where you go shopping

Working Time Required: 30 minutes

Project Costs: $20 –$50, depending on what you have at home and how much you’re willing to spend. Also, you may consider placing two containers on either side of your door or front steps.

Materials & Tools Required

– Pussy Willows, long sticks, birch tree branches, etc. (get creative)

– real or fake Forsythia (I purchased mine at Michaels and it was 40% off. Score!)

– Garden cutters (pussy willows are difficult to trim)

– Large planter/container, or two