There are an abundance of squirrels in our neck of the woods. They dig holes in the flower pots, and all over the garden. None of the little seedlings are safe when you compound the squirrels with a toddler wielding a plastic shovel.
I just love these beautiful garden cloches, but they are expensive for something so simple.
I saw a wire trashcan at Dollar Tree and thought it would make a great garden cloche! At first I was planning to use the little round wire baskets they also carry, but I like these trash cans more because they are larger. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.
Here’s the Simple How-to:
The wire trash cans come in white, so first I coated them with Rustoleum Hammered spray paint in silver. The silver was used because I had some leftover from another project, but I think I’ll go with a rust color or bronze next time to get the pretty weathered look.
I had these knobs left from sprucing up our kitchen cabinets, and I found a couple large washers in the garage. I used silicone adhesive to glue the washer to the knobs and then glued the washer to the top of the painted trash can.
Garden staples like these were used to secure the trashcan garden cloche into the ground on top of my catmint seedlings.
This was a quick and easy way to protect new plants in the garden. It adds a little something pretty too while the plants are small and there isn’t much going on besides a ton of mulch. If you are looking for other budget garden ideas, check out these simple hanging solar mason jar lights with supplies that can be found in Dollar Tree!
You might also enjoy reading DIY solar fountain, upcycled solar chandelier, or this simple method for a weed free garden!
Could you use cloches in your garden? Do you have any wildlife deterrent tips and tricks? I could always use them!
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Is there any environmental impact of using vinyl coated trash cans on your garden?
Hi Frank!
I am not certain, but I have not experienced any peeling or rusting with these cloches. As far as I can tell, it seems perfectly safe.
Oh I’ve been eyeing those cloches in the gardening magazines too but yes they are so expensive!! I love this idea! I’ll be on the lookout for trashcans now! Thanks!!
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I’m afraid it’ll rust since I’m not going to be painting it at all 🤔
I think it will be okay unpainted. These trash cans are pre painted, so it should hold up fairly well!
How can you protect flowers in pots from squirrels? Every time I put my spring flowers out, the squirrels dig holes and half my dirt is thrown all out. I don’t want to hide the blooms.
Squirrels make so much trouble! I’m still trying to figure this one out as well! I might try a little chicken wire cut to fit around the plants to see if it deters them
Thank you so much for this! I’ve been getting so frustrated because even in my enclosed space, something has gotten at some of my fresh seedlings. Today I saw a bite out of one of the leaves in my baby butternut squash. I was able to run up to my Dollar Tree and get 10 of these. So happy I was able to solve a problem so fast and cheap!