Chimney Love

Paulhiscock

I love the architectural element that a chimney can bring to a garden. There are a lot of them out there and I find never dramatically expensive to buy. I have a friend who had a load of them through inheritance from her mother (I am trying to get her to sell me one in particular that I really like a lot).They come in all shapes and sizes too. You can turn them into features such as legs for a table or even a light feature, although I haven't yet tried that. They make great planters. Of course the question is how do you use them? Well I have used 4 methods. 1: pot your plant into a pot that is not much smaller than the circumference of the chimney, fill the chimney with old plant pots and put the plant on top of the pile. 2: make a support out of offcuts of wood and place that under the pot. 3; find a pot th

Paulhiscock

That fits exactly in the top of the chimney (sometimes there is an extra detail to the top of the chimney that will make a great stand for the pot ) 4: use the chimney as a stand and stand the pot on it. Here is my selection. Perhaps you have some planted would be nice to see.

Dovefromabove

I agree ... my ex was a builder ... we had loads of choice chimney pots in our garden with flowerpots full of plants wedged into the tops ... so much nicer than the majority of commercially made ‘pot’. 

Sadly I didn’t get custody of my chimneys ☹️ 

Paulhiscock

Yeah that is a shame. My friend has a lovely selection but she just has them in a corner of her patio completely unused. A couple put mine to shame. But because she inherited them she just won't sell any, let alone the one I am really keen to get. Perhaps she will change her mind some day 

Suesyn

Not exactly a chimney but the same principle 
My son acquired this when he bought his house and passed it on to me. Ideal to keep the slugs of the hosta in this shady corner by the shed.
This one is a chimney pot, cheap as chips and works well with a grass in. Previously had a black grass which made a nice contrast with the terracotta. 

Paulhiscock

I love Hostas and I do think spiky plants look great in chimneys 

josusa47

When I had no garden but a tiny back yard, it grieved me that I couldn't compost.  Then my mum gave me a pair of old chimney pots for my birthday.  I found plant saucers that fitted into the tops and stood potted plants in them.  No-one could see that, under the plants, all my kitchen scraps and annual weeds from the yard were quietly rotting away.  They made lovely compost.  

One of them got broken when we moved, but the other is in the front garden, used in the same way.  I have since acquired a modern louvred terracotta chimney pot. (More likely it is terracotta-coloured concrete.)  This is in the back garden, crammed with twigs for bugs to shelter, and topped with a big plant saucer full of pebbles and water for birds and minibeasts to drink and bathe.

Hostafan1

Which variety is that @Suesyn ?

Paulhiscock

Those are great ideas for using a chimney I might try that myself 

Greenjob

I do like a chimney pot as well.

BenCotto

I like chimney pots too. Ours have geranium Rozanne and petunia French Vanilla.