22 Creative Planters: Wagons, Whiskey Barrels & Wheels

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These creative ideas for planting wagons, carts, wheelbarrows, bikes, and whiskey barrels come from home gardens. Come explore the gallery and grab ideas for your garden.

For garden structure ideas, also see the Arbor, Trellis, and Obelisk Idea Gallery.

Antique wheelbarrow used as a garden planter.

Creative Wagon Planter Ideas

Vintage wheelbarrow planted with purple flowers.

These creative garden planter ideas come from home gardens.

These antique, vintage, and modern wheeled carts and wheelbarrows that have been given a new life as a flower planter.

Sometimes the cart is the star of the show, other times the choice of plants and decor make it sing.

Tips for Long-Lasting Planters

Old wood and metal items are very prone to decay and rust in the garden.

Never place soil or potting mix directly in the wagon—use containers instead.
Protect or line surfaces to reduce water damage.
Create drainage holes otherwise water build-up may rot your plants and your planter!

1Rustic Arch with Old Red Farm Cart

I took this photo years ago on one of the first rural garden tours I ever attended. The cart alone is a great piece. The addition of the rustic arbor, modern metal work, and masses of flowers make it perfect.

Rustic garden arbor with old wheelbarrow full of colorful flowers. — Rustic arbor and wheelbarrow with colorful flowering annuals

2Horse Buggy with Flower Baskets

This is another one from a farm tour. The horse buggy has plenty of room to sit baskets of annuals.

Amish or Mennonite buggy with pots of colorful flowers — Buggy with colorful flower planters

Bathtub used as a planter for giant agave plants and old sink holding succulents.

3White Painted Cart with Red Wheels

I’m not sure if this one was ever intended to carry stuff—those red wheels look pretty rough! But I sure love it as planter packed with pansies and vinca vine.

Vintage white cart with red wheels holding purple and yellow pansies. — Vintage cart with loads of pansies

4Cart with Metal Wheel

I have cart envy! This one looks like they built the cart to go with the old wheel—I could be wrong but I don’t think it’s antique. But no matter, it looks great, especially with the flowers and weathered wood fence as a backdrop.

Old wooden hand wagon planted with petunias — Old hand cart with pink petunias

Old metal wagon wheel used as garden art. — Old wagon wheels are classic garden art

5Amish Buggy with Planters

Another retired buggy either from a local Amish or Mennonite family. The red flowers look gorgeous with the black paint. This one was photographed at a local garden nursery.

Black horse-drawn buggy with colorful flowers — Buggy with colorful annuals

6Homemade Wooden Wheelbarrow

I assume this next one was rebuilt at some point. It again proves that point that everything looks good with pansies!

Homemade wooden wagon planted with purple and yellow flowers — Homemade wagon with purple and yellow flowers

Strawberries growing in a wheelbarrow planter.

Related: Make a Wheelbarrow Planter

7Plain Wood Buggy

This one was also photographed at a garden nursery. You can’t see the flowers from this viewpoint. I assume the original paint was removed revealing the gorgeous wood underneath, which is fine in a protected area like this.

Antique wooden buggy by row of hanging flowering plants — Antique wagon and rows of flowering plants

8Antique Cart with Flowers

This one is a beauty! The size and shape of the wood cart leaves lots of room for plants.

Tip: Prop Up Your Flowerpots

Is your wagon planter too deep? Place upside-down flowerpots in the wagon and sit planted pots on top so you don’t need a truckload of potting mix.

This article has more tips for filling large flowerpots and raised garden beds.

9Front Yard Flower Cart

This one is in a front garden, filled with potted purple and white flowers (and maple leaf decorations for Canada Day).

Cart in front garden with colorful flowers — Cart with pink and white flowers

Giant flower urn, giant bird nest, giant agave plants in bathtub.

10Old Metal Wheelbarrow with Wood Trug

I built this garden trug to fit over top my wheelbarrow. The whole thing is dressed up with pansies, petunias, and sweet potato vine. I prop up the back legs to make it display nicely.

Wheelbarrow planter with sweet potato vine. — Garden trug on wheelbarrow with flowers and vine

Related: How to Make a Garden Trug

11Little Red Wagons

This photo came from a friend of Empress of Dirt on Facebook: it’s a collection of little red flyer wagons lined up on the driveway and filled with colorful flowers.

There are lot of red wagon planter ideas but the main thing is to protect the wagon as best you can. They do not do well with water sitting in them: rust will quickly form.

For mine, I drilled drainage holes in the bed and also line it with landscape fabric before adding plants in pots. This really helps extend the life of the wagon.

Kid's red flyer wagons planted with flowers — Red flyer wagon planters along driveway

12Strawberries in Old Garden Wheelbarrow

I took this wheelbarrow from a neighbor’s garbage. The metal barrow was rusting and had some holes so it seemed like it was asking to be a planter. I built the wood planter box to sit over top and filled both levels with strawberry plants.

Wheelbarrow planted with strawberries. — Wheelbarrow strawberry planter

The hand-painted strawberry sign lets you know what’s in there in case there’s any question about it.

Painted strawberry decoration on strawberry planter box — Hand-painted strawberry tells you what’s in the planter

Ripe and unripe strawberries growing in the garden.

13Old Farm Equipment and Flower Planters

Old metal and wood farm equipment is perfect for garden art. Here they have gathered a collection of planters and treasures including a vintage lamp post.

Vintage wagon wheels with an array of plants — Plants and wagon wheels

14Rusty Wheelbarrow and Broken Flowerpot

It’s the place where broken things come to rest. This old rusty wheelbarrow has seen better days. The begonias, broken strawberry pot, and funny birds give it an artful, quirky touch.

Old wheelbarrow with red flowers — Junky old wheelbarrow with red flowers

15Old Red Wheelbarrow with Sweet Potato Vine

One of my favorite combinations ever: the green of the sweet potato vine plus the purple flowers and deep red patina of the wheelbarrow are just stunning.

Vintage wheelbarrow with sweet potato vine and purple flowers

Rooting sweet potato vine cuttings in jars of water.

16Rusted Tricycle with Half Barrel Planter

The old tricycle is a reminder of the days when kids used to play in the garden.

Rusty old child's tricycle by barrel of flowers — Child’s tricycle and barrel of flowers

17Half Barrels on Wood Deck

If you want wooden barrels to last longer, use something to line them. You can buy plastic liners for some barrel planters like these ones on Amazon. I also use plastic flowerpots within other decorative planters to help retain moisture and avoid rotting wood.

Whiskey barrel planters on deck with colorful flowers — Whiskey barrel planters on deck

18Black Metal Bicycle with Basket Planter

This bike was made to be a decoration. I have no idea of its origin but you can see it’s not functional. I love the front basket of flowers. If this was mine, I’d be tempted to hang the whole thing up on a wall and have flowers and vines trailing down.

These next ones are sitting outside a local antique and collectible shop.

Vintage red bike in garden with flowers. — Vintage red bike in garden with flowers

Rusty bike with flowering perennials. — Rusty bike with flowering perennials

19Yellow Bike with Yellow Flowers

I think this gardener loves yellow! Some gardeners put bikes as-is in the garden, others paint them. Either way, it’s your garden and your choice.

Yellow garden art bike with yellow flowers — Yellow bike with yellow flowers

20Tall Wood Barrel

This is another collector’s item. With a plastic pot of flowers inserted in the top, it makes a nice rustic plant stand.

Tall vintage barrel planted with pansies — Vintage barrel with pansies

21Giant Old Wagon Wheel

Years ago in this area, and I assume in other parts of Canada and the United States, big old wagon wheels were standard décor in gardens. It was almost expected that you have a wagon wheel! While not a big fan of conformity for the sake of itself, if you love them, show them off.

22Mini Water Mill at Home Garden

This photo was taken at a rural garden. They built a small creek around the perimeter of the property and had a functioning mill that turned with the water flow. It was quite charming.