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"  Would-be urban gardeners faced with the space constraints of a tiny terrace or fire escape typically rely on planters designed expressly for that purpose. But a large wooden planter from a home and garden store can easily set you back hundreds of dollars\u2014a fairly ridiculous expense when you consider that they are really just empty containers.  Fortunately, there&amp;#039;s a cheaper\u2014and in many ways, superior\u2014way to grow plants in small, outdoor spaces that lack natural dirt: 5-gallon drywall buckets.  These buckets are cheap (about $5 a piece), stackable and extremely portable (even when they are full of dirt and plants). In fact, the best part of bucket gardening is just how easy it is to move the components around\u2014it takes little effort to completely rearrange the garden to accommodate new furniture or follow the sun. And while the buckets may not be as aesthetically pleasing as actual planters, their raw industrial look has a charm of its own.  I have spent the past few months nurturing a bucket-based sunflower garden consisting of 11 buckets, each with three or four mammoth blossoms. While I was initially concerned that the buckets lacked the volume to accommodate multiple plants, those fears proved to be unwarranted. And while the plants appear to be topping out at about seven feet high\u2014a bit shorter than the nine or 10 feet that these plants are capable of under optimal conditions\u2014that&amp;#039;s just fine for my terrace. Other PM editors have grown rosebushes, peppers and even artichokes in 5-gallon buckets; their depth makes them the perfect vessel for a single, staked tomato plant.  Before planting in the buckets, flip them over and drill drainage holes in the bottom; you can also tap a thick nail through the plastic with a hammer. If you prefer bright colors or stripes to factory-white, you can paint them and optionally remove the handles (if you grow anything taller than herbs, you&amp;#039;ll have a hard time lifting the handles over them anyway). Unless you live in very windy conditions, the soil-filled buckets should be able to withstand gusts without tipping over. Of course, Chicago residents should feel free to add a layer of heavy rocks to the bottom of the bucket to help weigh it down.  I used a combination of potting mix and peet moss, with a dash of fertilizer. If you&amp;#039;re a really ambitious urban gardener and have a vermicomposting (read: worm) operation in your apartment, you can use regular old dirt with an inch of compost worked into it. Seed placement is critical to bucket gardening. I&amp;#039;ve found the best tactic is to create a circle of seeds about two inches from the wall of the bucket, spaced every few inches. This gives you the opportunity to thin the seedlings once they sprout and grow a few inches. Once you&amp;#039;ve eliminated the runts, carefully transplant the healthiest seedlings into a triangle or square shape within the bucket, providing as much space between plants as possible. The resulting garden is inexpensive, expandable (I recently added a few buckets of marigolds to the mix) and easily rearranged. And so productive it may interest local wildlife (read: squirrels and pigeons, though a raccoon did once inexplicably appear on the fire escape of the science editor&amp;#039;s fourth floor walk-up). For this, we recommend a plastic, bobble-headed owl, which nods in the breeze to dissuade even the smartest avian visitors. When winter hits, simply disassemble your plastic brigade; the stackable buckets stash neatly out of sight. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/lawn-garden/how-to/a5952/drywall-bucket-flower-pot-garden/>