Wait – Don’t put your container gardens and patio pots away too fast – They may be used in Autumn to serve as a place to add fall and Halloween decor for the month of October.

In the photo above, mesh ribbon, fake leaves, and various decor were used to fill the top of these barrels. Handy tools to get this done: Staple gun, wooden stakes, and creativity!

This cast iron urn is wonderful because it can stay outside year round. In the fall, I took out the plants, left the soil, and added the black fabric webbing and a skull. The skull is attached to a square piece of Styrofoam by some heavy duty glue. First, a piece of black landscape fabric was used over the foam to hide the white of the Styrofoam block, then I glued the skull on top, added moss pieces and glow-in-the-dark worms. To insert it into the pot, use some larger type wooden skewers and push them into soil, then into the base of the square foam – simple and fun. And don’t forget, leave the soil in there when you disassemble this decor because it will be used to hold the winter evergreens when it is time to dress it up for the holidays in December.

The plant on the side (vines) is from a climbing spinach plant which worked out nicely because it has black berries still clinging on – so it worked well with the black fabric webbing.

A spooky baby head is tucked under a Carex grass. Picked up this “baby” at a antique fair of all places. Knew I’d find a use for it.

The Carex grass is perfect because it was flopping anyhow as Autumn arrived, and the Delosperma below, hanging over the pot, is still tough outside right now. So. I added a cool Owl using the same technique noted above: Square Styrofoam block, black landscape fabric over the block, glued the decor on and staked the owl with wooden skewers into the soil.

On my Mum-mmy pot, I added some plastic creepy hands found in a Halloween shop – all I did was use heavy duty wooden skewers in each finger and pressed it into the soil.

My Castor Bean plant got hit by frost and all the foliage was toppled over, so I decided to remove all the side branches, foliage and kept the main stem and branches on the plant, which I then covered with the fake white webbing found in Halloween shops this time of year.

After Halloween is over, I will chop the whole plant down, and save the soil in this big pot for stuffing with evergreens for the December holiday season.

This is a photo of the spiny seed pods of the Castor Bean plant which I’m saving to use for next year’s plants – For more about this plant and its spooky features, read this post:

CASTOR BEAN POST

A week before, I dismantled my big black pot – which kind of looks like a witches kettle, and removed the big red banana plant for overwintering. Well, I could not leave the pot un-decorated.

I took old stalks of perennials and glued mini skeleton hands on the top and tore some black landscape fabric to add, then just inserted them into the soil. The witches broom was added to keep you thinking – what else will be added to her witches brew?

After fooling around with all this Halloween fun, I got serious and planted 50 tulip bulbs into my big cement planter and enjoyed the rest of the warm day. Remember, your container gardens and patio pots can be maximized during special holidays before they are moved inside for the winter season.

Cathy Testa