Self-Watering Planter Stake DIY
I have always had a love affair with hydrangeas! I love their big moppy heads that bounce in the breeze and the way cut hydrangeas grace a table in stunning style! This year we planted them in big rectangular planters on the patio. They create a charming divider between the wrap-around porch and the patio and Endless Summer hydrangeas add such a pretty softness to all the hardscaping. Today let’s take a look at planting hydrangeas in containers and an easy way to keep them watered when you are gone!
I’ve had such amazing results planting Endless Summer hydrangeas in the containers in the front of my home for several seasons so I thought I’d plant these beautiful blooms on the back patio! And this year I’m embracing the pretty-in-pink color of the Endless Summer hydrangeas! What sets these hydrangeas apart from others is their amazing ability to rebloom and produce gorgeous flowers all summer long. No wonder they are called Endless Summer! Perfect for containers!
Notice the red stems? Striking!
We planted two hydrangeas in each planter. Which turned out to be quite a bargain for a summer’s worth of gorgeous full blooms! Instead of planting annuals in your urns, pots or planters think about hydrangeas!
They were planted in the long containers with a potting soil mix and topped off with a thick of covering medium bark mulch. Then we gave them a soaking drink of water.
Our patio is the perfect place to plant hydrangeas. These hydrangeas get light morning sun and a little late afternoon sun. The image below shows our hydrangeas in the late afternoon.
I like the way the hydrangeas create a little hedge!
Hydrangeas get thirsty, especially when they are planted in containers. So I have an easy way to give them a drink of water when I am not around for a day or two!
This self-watering hack could not be easier… and so attractive!!!!!
All you really need is a wine bottle filled with water. But why not turn the wine bottle into a piece of art for your summer containers!
Here’s how to make a WINE BOTTLE WATERING STAKE!
Materials:
- wine bottle
- assorted colored glass pebbles (the kind that goes in the bottom of vases)
- silicone glass glue
Clean out an empty wine bottle and soak off the label. Let the wine bottle completely dry. Drop a little glue onto a glass pebble and stick it to the bottle. Work in sections fixing the glass pebbles to the wine bottle. I used a random pattern, but you can get creative and make your own!
Let the glue completely dry.
Water the planted container very well. Don’t miss this step. For the watering stake to work, it must be put into very moist soil.
Fill the watering stake with water and plunge the whole neck of the bottle down at a 45 degree into the soil close to the roots of your plant. The larger the container the more watering stakes you should use. If the water empties out of the watering stake, refill it and try again. The water should drain from the watering stake as the soil dries out and water your plant.
Now my back patio is THE place to rock the summer away in style!
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Love all types of hydrangeas but have so far only planted them directly in the ground. Especially love my limelights which have formed a hedge on the side of my house. Will have to try the container idea. As for the watering hack we have had so much rain here in N.C. I don’t need it as yet but when the drier times arrive it will be a great idea for my many large planters when we go on vacation.
Love this! Beautiful and fun
What a great idea. We are putting in a pool so I think they would look great by it. The pictures make it looks so pretty.
Thanks
They would look gorgeous around a pool!
What a fabulous idea – love your hydrangeas – they are my favorite flower.
I have a client who has them in water troughs turned planters around their 9th floor patio. They are stunning and have come back beautifully for 3 years even in our upstate NY climate.
What a pretty idea! Thanks for sharing Patti
Thank you for this post. I will have to try the watering idea. We have a condo we visit on weekends, Most weeks the plants are okay. But if we miss a weekend then I worry. I live in FL hydrangeas are hard to grow here. I do have one plant in the ground and it must be in the right place. I may have to try putting one in a planter.
Thanks again
Such a pretty patio! I especially like the pink with the gray in your stone.
I was going to turn the hydrangeas blue but when I saw them with the black and white I decided they were the perfect color. Thanks!
How do you turn them blue? Please tell us. The pink is gorgeous with your grey stone and black accents.
It’s a Channel Colour Porch! Just Gorgeous Yvonne!! Thanks for another great idea.
You need to get a granulated fertilizer to turn the soil acidic. Just follow the directions on the package. Walmart has a good organic fertilizer specifically labeled for turning soil acidic.
Thank you for the great tip Deborah, my grandmother had blue hydrangeas so beautiful, I will check with Walmart.
Thanks for the idea! I’m going to make your watering stake today.
Hydrangeas are my all-time favorite flower! Great ideas as always .. loving the pillows on your black rockers, too! Such an inviting setting ….
Thanks, Sandy!
I never knew you could use a bottle for a watering stake. I am going to try this cute idea.
GORGEOUS!
Details, details!!!!!!!!!!! please.
Where did you buy your planters? How deep are they actually?
How do you deadhead them? When?
What will happen to these plants in the winter?
Thanks for the inspiration!
I might of missed it
How do these winter over
I’m in PA also and wonder if they make it their the dinner in the planters? Thanks I do love your ideas
Hi Debby, We have not left our hydrangeas in planters over the winter. We either plant them in the ground in the fall or consider them very nice seasonal plants. Because we can get them for a great price I don’t mind just having them for a season. Hope this has answered your question.
Love wine; love hydrangeas; love glsss pebbles; love this idea!! Thanks!!!
What’s a great idea! I too am curious as to what happens to them in the winter. Can you give us some details please?
Hi Linda: Perhaps, I can help a bit. It all depends on where you live BUT if you live in a climate that gets a normal Winter with freezing temperatures, hydrangeas will NOT survive just left out all Winter in a normal pot or planter. To survive in any kind of planter, the container would need to be insulated – if not, the freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw cycles of Winter will kill your plant. If you insulate a container, then it needs to be a good size to allow room for first the insulation and then the soil and plant. Some people have good luck bringing them into a garage for the Winter but again, if a Winter is a severe one and if the garage is not insulated, the plant will probably die. I hate just tossing out a plant when Winter comes, so I either plant it in a flower bed in the garden or repot it in a larger pot and sink the pot AND plant into the ground before the soil freezes. I cover the plant (still in its pot) with plenty of leaves and hope for the best and sometimes I’ve been lucky; other times, not so much.
Thanks, Elaine. I am going to try to overwinter my Endless Summer hydrangeas this year.I’ll let you know what I do.
I planted hydrangeas directly in to my flower bed this year. They have gotten off to a slow start. Perhaps next year will see more growth! Your are stunning!
Great ideas as usual Yvonne. I like the idea of saving money and using hydrangeas instead of annuals. Your Endless Summers are GORGEOUS!
What a wonderful idea! So nice to provide what your plants need AND have it be beautiful as well.
I LOVE Endless Summer hydrangeas. I’ve planted several in the ground after enjoying them in pots on my porch, and they’re thriving.
Love love the idea of the wine bottle!!!!!! Thanks again Yvonne!!!!❤️
You are welcome, Kathy!
Yvonne, you are a woman close to my heart! I guess great minds think alike! I do all kinds of wine bottle crafts, and hydrangeas are my FAVORITE!!! I love how you’ve beautified your front living space with these elements! Thanks, as always, for another amazing post!
Blessings,
❤Beth
Yvonne you are awesome!!! What a great idea! Love it! Thanks
I love the look of the hydrangeas with you black and white theme. Very beautiful!
I Love Hydrangeas!!! Great idea on watering them. I will have to try that!!
Love the contrast of the hydrangeas with the black planter–gorgeous!
The planter was originally a sand color. We spray painted them and like them so much better black.
Do you have a greenhouse? With your love of flowers and all things home, you and hubs seem like you’d find a greenhouse useful. Like for these hydrangeas!
Andrea, I would love a greenhouse or potting shed. We’ve been thinking about it!
Love this great idea with wine bottles watering stakes! Beautiful blooms!
Thanks for tip re watering stake…that it must be placed in moist soil
Love your back patio! So inviting with all of the colors!
This is for Debbie in PA. Hydrangeas lived in our Philadelphia gardens for many, many years through many snow storms. Rebloomed beautifully! Now I have to research if they can survive in Albuquerque!
Hydrangeas are my favorite and they look beautiful in the planters.
Yvonne, I love the idea of the hydrangeas in planters. I have one lonely green wine bottle in my coneflower patch. My husband bought home a metal rod and I turned the wine bottle upside down and placed on the rod. It’s really pretty when the sun hits it. I would love to get another white wine bottle and add the color stones that you placed on your wine bottle. I love the way it looks. I always love your ideas. Thanks again.
So pretty!! Love your rockers. 🙂
Love your picture of your sweet doggie-looks like a little beagle..
What a sweet doggie!
I love my neighbor’s hydrangeas. the flowers go from pink to purple to blue and she does not do anything to them.
I have a hydrangea in a container on the side of my house as that is the safest place for this one!! I have a limelight in my backyard that is all sun and it is just blooming and this is my favorite!! It’s about 6 feet wide and 7 ft tall!!! It’s awesome! I love your planters, where can I find therm?
Sarah Kressaty
We had limelights growing around the side of our porch for 22 years. They got so big and unruly we had them taken out this year (sad) and replaced with Endless Summer (happy)!
What a pretty idea! Thanks, Yvonne.
Hi Yvonne,
I never thought of planting Hydrangeas in planters. What a great idea! I also love the watering bottle idea and a great way to re-cycle/re-use the bottles. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas!
Love hydrangeas as well. Thanks for the watering tip. Looks super easy.
Your porch looks amazing. You have a great eye for detail.
Yvonne what a pretty idea, I’ve got to make one or more of these lovelies. I keep colored beads on hand, they are so pretty in our bird bath and our little birdies love to perch on top of them and bathe to their hearts content. I love container gardens but I haven’t tried to grow hydrangeas we are in zone 9 and it’s very humid and in the 90’s.
Try putting them in a shady area. Our summers get very very hot and humid and as long as they are not in full sun they are fine. They also need to be watered when the temps get high.
Thank you for the great idea, I do have a shady spot so I’ll try to get them started and will certainly let you know their progress. Have a wonderful weekend Yvonne!
love your hydrangeas! lovely! and your porch so inviting.
I adore hydrangea of all kinds!
I do love this idea for a watering stake!
I do hope Heaven has hydrangeas, can’t get enough of these beauties. Your patio is dreamy and functional…now relax and enjoy a little down time with hubby. Can’t wait to start on h20 bottle!
As always, you are so creative. I love your patio. Hydrangeas in planters will be my next project. Thanks for the inspiration to try new things!! Have a wonderful Friday.
Beautiful and I love the planters! Where did you find them?
Hi Melanie, I got them on sale at the end of the summer last year from Ballard Designs. I don’t see my exact ones this year but they do have one similar.
I really liked this beautiful idea. You have the best hacks.
Thanks so much Christi!
What a great watering tip!! I needed that for my own hydrangeas?
I love these and think they are so pretty, I’ve never put them in containers ….a neet idea
Brilliant idea to keep those beautiful hydrangeas hydrated!
Love, love hydrangeas! Never thought to use them in containers. Our river soil is rocky so this is the perfect solution. Thanks, Yvonne!
This is just the idea I needed to dress up our very plain patio, and we love hydrangeas, but were worried about them drying out in planters. You always offer great advice–thank you!
I am curious what you do with these container plants when the cold weather arrives? Do you bring them indoors for the winter? or plant in the ground. I have had a problem with certain containers freezing and then the perrenial plants in them don’t make it throughthe winter.
I usually plant them in the ground or get rid of them because they are much more economically than filling containers up with annuals. This year I’ll be trying to winter them over! Finger’s crossed!
Every time I see hydrangeas, I think of my mother who loved them so much. Thank you for sharing them on your blog!
Hydrangeas have been around or so so long. But the new generation, Endless Summer, bloom all summer long. So pretty!
Love the watering tip and so neat how you dressed up. Thank you.
Do you really need to use silicone glass glue vs glue gun? Thanks for all you do to help us make our part of the world a little brighter.
Tried the glue gun first. It did not work. Definitely, use silicone glue!!!
Hydrangeas are my favorite flowers! After seeing yours, I’m going to try putting some in a pot.
Great, Carol! YOU GO GIRL!
Thank you so much for your post about hydrangeas. I didn’t know there was a variety that would tolerate sun.
Yvonne, your ankle must be feeling better…..I truly hope so! Have a blessed Saturday. Patty
Hi Patricia, Right now I’m in an air cast for another 7 weeks. Hopefully, this will be the end of a very long journey! Thanks for thinking of me! Hugs!
What a cool idea, a wine bottle! I now have to find someone that drinks. Thank you!
Doreen, I thought the same thing! Then I remembered that craft stores will often have similar bottles in their glassware section. Might work!
Beautiful planters! I have 2 Endless Summer hydrangeas in pots on my east facing patio. They get morning sun then shade all afternoon. They are blooming fantastically but Im not confident I can overwinter them. God willing they will be back next year. Thanks for the great post!
I love, love, love Hydrangeas! M grandmother who lived in Arkansas had blooms S big as dinner plates. I’ve never lived anywhere I could grow them, but love the idea of putting them in planters.
I also love hydrangeas. Yours look wonderful. How many plants did you place in each planter? Thank you again.
I love the watering hack-recycled wine bottles!
Yvonne, your hydrangeas are just so pretty! Enjoy!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love this idea much better than a plastic 2 liter and very pretty also…love the glass beads.
This is much prettier and better than a 2 liter bottle thanks for sharing
Simply beautiful!
Since I already have the hydrangeas in containers, the glass pebbles, and plenty of wine bottles, I’d best get busy! Thanks for the idea. Love your swing, rockers, and flowers.
The Hubs had just given me an ultimatum on doing something with my wine bottle stash or else when I opened your post this afternoon! He’s on his way to fetch the silicone glass glue as I type. Have always loved hydrangeas–they grew wild among the rock walls in the Azores where I lived as a child.
Lovely!
love your back porch n patio!
Love those endless summer hydrangea, I have several in the ground. But I have one that isn’t doing much this year, I think I will move it into a pot and see if it will begin to look like yours. And that watering stake is a great idea, thanks.
Pat
I’m ready to give your watering stake a try -and love your hydrangeas! Just planted one this year in my yard.
I love hydrangeas!! They are my favorite flower!! Have you ever considered taking a picture of your back lawn facing the back of your house? We see snipits, but I’d love to see the whole picture 🙂
Your Hydrangeas are gorgeous Yvonne. They are my favorite too.
Great wine bottle hack! Thanks for the tip, and tutorial!
Leaving town for a couple days, will be using this watering stake to keep my plants alive.
Love Hydrangeas so so much. My husband and I and our 4 children built a gazebo in our yard back in 2001. Quite a job but love it as it is screened in with an old fashioned screen door. We also built a small pond/fountain by the gazebo. For the last 6 years now I have Endless Summer planted on the east, south, west and north sides of my gazebo. It is so pretty and we get so many compliments on our yard. Would love to send a picture but don’t know how. They come back every year and we are in zone 4. Don’t do much to them but love watching their beauty.
Love this idea. Wanted to plant Hydrangeas this summer but in planters. Now I will. Thank you for the inspiration!
Please, please, come to our house and help me turn it into a beautiful space like yours. I love what you did here, and thank you so much for sharing.
My husband brought home Endless Summer hydrangeas for my pots…. but they are very leggy and a little dinky. Do I prune or just plant them?!?
Yes, if they are leggy you might want to prune them at the end of the growing season.
Clever and cute idea – thanks I’ll try it this summer!
This sounds like a great idea! How has this worked for you? How often do I refill the bottle? Thanks
It works wonderfully. You should give it a try!