Eudora Welty struck a chord in the 1940’s, when she described women and children fighting over tires off a wrecked car. The children needed swings, but the women wanted them for planters.
“Crown” tires, so‑called because, when cut and inverted, the zaftig pots resemble frilly crowns, are now everywhere, from Alaska to the fashionable outer reaches of Long Island ‑ even in England and Japan. They are, after all, as valid for containers as recycled whiskey barrels, cooking kettles, et al; As Scottish poet and landscape artist Ian Hamilton Finlay put it, “Better truth to intellect, than truth to material.”
Before you go get prissy about anyone using tires as planters, keep in mind algebra’s Transitive Property of Equality ( if A=B and B=C, then A=C) – if it is okay to plant in a recycled whiskey barrel, old shoe, or any other cast-off container, then a tire is okay, too… Here are just a few recycled containers, all which make tires, um, not so bad...
By the way, my penchant for tire planters earned my being lampooned on the cover of the annual plant catalog published by Plant Delights Nursery…
How to make a tire planter (the easiest way)
While gardeners worldwide use tires laid on their sides “as is” or maybe painted to make them more acceptable, there are three simple but crucial tricks to cut and invert one into a more decorative pot (without herniating yourself): Choose the right kind of tire (many cannot be turned inside out), cut just the sidewall (no steel belts there), and practice the special move that helps turn it inside out. Skip any of these, and you will fail. And by the way, any sturdy knife will do. Really. NOTE: No, tires are not toxic for planting. Very sure of this, lotta solid research.
STEP 1: Choose your tires carefully
Lay a tire on its side, and use your foot or hand to push the curved “shoulder” in a little way. If you can’t do this easily, move on to another tire. I cannot overstate the importance of this.
STEP 2: Cut the tire safely
Lay the tire on its side, wiggle a sharp knife blade into the sidewall, and cut in a curbed, jagged, or smooth shape all the way around; some folks mark the pattern first. It will leave you breathless, so take your time. and cut away from yourself lest the knife slip and… well, this is the voice of bad experience.
STEP 3: Invert the tire steadily, a small bit at a time. the first move is the most important.
You can’t out-brute a tire, you gotta out-think it. Stand the tire up, cut side away, and with your knee push in the “shoulder” (remember step one) while pulling back on the cut edge with your hands. Shift your knee a bit until you find the right spot.
Pull and push the rest of the tire, a little at a time, all the way around.
DONE!
You can use the cut-out part as a wall decoration, or as a mower or string trimmer guard around shrubs.
If you want to paint your tire planter, hit it first with a household degreaser. ANY kind of paint suitable for plastic or rubber will work, but fast-drying spray paint is easiest.
By the way, if the tire has a rim on it before you start, it will end up looking like an urn with pedestal. There is no difference in the steps taken to turn either inside out, just one is with and one is without the rim. Some of the photos below will give you the idea of how it looks.
SHORT GALLERY OF TIRE PLANTERS
TIRE ART (and oh yeah, I have LOTS more, but you get the idea…)
BOTTOM LINE HERE… like it or not, take it or leave it, using tires as garden planters works fine. I mean, they do it in ENGLAND, so you KNOW it’s alright. Right?
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