Pumpkin tips for fall
Garden Gate readers have plenty of clever ideas for pumpkins. Discover tips for extending the life of these fall favorites, styling them in seasonal displays, and giving them new purpose in the garden once the holidays are over.
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Fall Pumpkin Planter Ideas
DIY Marigold Garland
Make your pumpkins last longer in fall
Extend the life of your fall pumpkins with this easy tip! Instead of placing them directly on the porch or deck, Rachelle sets each one on a container platform or plant caddy to improve airflow and prevent moisture buildup. This helps pumpkins last well past Halloween, and even if they do start to get soft, the porch or deck won’t be stained or damaged. See how it's done in the quick video above.
Tip submitted by Rachelle Thornburgh, WA
Create a pest trap with pumpkins
Here’s a festive solution to your slug problem: Get a pumpkin! Donna cuts the top off of a pumpkin and cleans out the seeds and pulp. She places it in her hosta bed and lets it collect slugs. She then kills them with soapy water and tosses them in with her yard waste. You can return the pumpkin to the bed and continue to dispose of the slugs as needed. The best part is that it looks more like a decoration than it does a pest trap!
Tip submitted by Donna Hartman, IA
Pop in a Pumpkin!
Create a pumpkin topiary
To make her pumpkin topiary, Rachel holds “auditions” to see which ones stack best. Stabilizing the stack with rods would just cause the pumpkin to rot. They sit on a 20-inch pizza pan covered with artificial leaves.
Use pumpkins as an accent
Have a hole in a planting that’s otherwise still going strong, or want to accent a fall container? Add pumpkins! Rachel gets creative and saves money by planting in upcycled items found around the yard or at flea markets. The old wheelbarrow above, overflowing with wing begonias, is a favorite find turned planter that she loves to accent with a pile of pumpkins in autumn.
Garden design by Rachel Light, OH
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