PLANTING A CHIMINEA

Trying to take advantage of every inch of space is always a goal for me when designing a space.  The same goes for planting our containers during the spring months.  We have a large Chiminea that is used nearly every night during the Fall & Winter months.  During the Spring & Summer it is rarely, if ever, lit.  Now that the littles is on the deck more than ever & into everything, we decided to toddler proof it this season.  This idea came after she came over to me with a mouth full of ash & telling me it was “dirty sand!”  GROSS!  To solve this, we simply turned the Chiminea backwards so the opening faced the deck rails… But it looked a little odd.  

Why not plant the top?!?  I decided that dropping a terracotta pot into the top opening would be an easy enough solution…  It would allow the pot to drain into the vessel of the Chimnea, & the large opening would be large enough to let that water evaporate.

I measured the top opening & headed to the store thinking I would get a standard terracotta pot…  Wouldn’t you know, the only size that would fit was this gorgeous grayed out terracotta.