1989 - Volume #13, Issue #3, Page #30
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Do It Yourself Flower Pot Tree
Publisher Roy Reiman unveiled the "tree" in a column last year and challenged his readers to build their own flower tree and send him a photo of it. The result? For months he received photo after photo of beautiful trees built by readers.
The flower tree holds 27 individually potted flowers in a Christmas tree shape. When the flowers are in full bloom, the pots are practically hidden from view.
The base of the tree is a 2 3/8-in. pipe set in concrete. The trunk of the tree is a 21/2-in. pipe that slips over the base pipe. That way the tree can be taken down in winter. The 27 "branches" of the tree were fashioned out of 1-in. sq. steel bars welded to the trunk pipe. Angle iron braces run from the end of the branches to the trunk. A 9-in. dia. metal band is welded to the end of each branch to hold the pots.
There are four separate rows of plants. The bottom row has 12 pots and the branches are 24 in. long. The branches on the second row are 16 in. long and there are 9 pots on that level. Branches on the third row are are 8 in. long and there are 5 pots on that level. And there's a single pot at the top.
Reiman's readers tried a variety of plants in the tree, ranging from flowering mums to viny plants that hang down to the ground. The tree can be changed during the growing season by simply switching plants and if any of the plants does poorly, it can be easily replaced.
One reader, Charles Fritz of Billings, Mont., solved the problem of watering the plants on his tree by installing an automatic watering system. He ran a garden hose up the middle of the tree, then drilled holes in the metal "trunk" so he could run a 1/8-in. hose out to each pot.
If you build a flower tree, Roy Reiman would like to see a photo of it (he might even run it in his magazine). To contact him, and for more information about Farm & Ranch Living Magazine, contact Roy Reiman, Farm & Ranch Living, P.O. Box 572, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201.
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