If you’re tired of buying expensive coconut liners every spring, then you’re going to love my cheap solution! This inexpensive DIY project is easy to do with materials you probably have lying around the house. Plus, this coco liner alternative looks awesome, and lasts for years without having to be replaced!
I have a few of those wire basket planters that came with coconut liners when I bought them. The coco liner always looks so beautiful when freshly planted with summer annuals.
But after a season or two, they start to look dingy and gray. Plus, the birds like to tear the coco fiber apart to use for building their nests in the spring. The result? Well, it’s not pretty!!
I love my wire basket planters, but they are unusable without the liners. I could buy fresh replacement coco liners every spring, but that gets to be very expensive.
I don’t know about you, but I just couldn’t justify the cost of replacing the expensive coconut liners annually, so my favorite wire planter ended up sitting in the garage.
Every time I looked at it I felt sad and frustrated about the cost of the coco planter liners. It finally came to the point where I was either going to get rid of the planter, or figure out how I could make it useable again.
Challenge accepted!
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What To Use As An Alternative For Coconut Liners
All I needed to do was figure out a way to replace the coconut planter liners, but using a cheaper alternative material.
I racked my brain for a few weeks trying to come up with ideas. But the answer didn’t come easily, and I continued to feel frustrated.
Then one day while I was cleaning the garage, I came across a bunch of leftover landscaping fabric that was just collecting dust.
Aha!
I found my solution for a cheap alternative to coconut liners.
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Benefits Of Landscaping Fabric Planter Liners
When I came up with this idea, I was so excited!! Not only would this be much cheaper than buying brand new coco basket liners, it will also last much longer!
And boy was I right about that!! I came up with this idea 7 years ago, and my DIY alternative planter liners look just as great today as they did when I first made them.
Lining planters with landscaping fabric is not only cheaper, but it will last for many, many more years than the coco basket liners.
And my wire basket planters or much less maintenance now since the liners don’t have to be replaced all the time.
Plus, I think the black liner look really nice too (way nicer than a dingy old gray coco liner that’s half torn apart by the birds, that’s for sure!)
Easy DIY Landscaping Fabric Planter Liner
Since the landscaping fabric isn’t stiff like coconut liners are, it took a bit more work to get the liner looking good in the baskets of my metal planter.
I decided to use a thin metal wire to attach the landscaping fabric to the metal planter baskets. That way, the fabric stays in place and the dirt won’t spill out.
I simply poked the metal wire through the liner, and then wrapped the metal around the top of the basket, filling the liner with dirt as I worked my way around the basket.
I also took the time to bunch and straighten the liner as I went around each basket so the landscaping fabric wouldn’t bunch up in one spot in the basket.
Once the fabric was attached all the way around the wire basket, I trimmed off the extra fabric around the top so it was even with the top of the metal basket.
After the baskets were filled with dirt, the liner popped into shape and my wire planter looked great again. The landscaping fabric will last much longer than a coconut liner, saving me tons of money each spring.
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How To Save Money On Plants
To save myself even more cash, I decided to plant a mix of hardy succulent sedums in my new wire planter rather than using annual plants that need to be replaced every spring.
That way, I can just overwinter the hardy succulents in the garage and pull my planter out each spring to reuse year after year. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
This option didn’t cost me a cent since I used materials I already had sitting around and plants from the garden.
I am very happy with the way this turned out using my homemade coconut liner alternative, and proud of the fact that I was able to make my wire basket planter new again.
If you’re not ready to take on a project like this yourself, you can purchase a coconut liner roll and cut them to size, or buy replacement coco liners here.
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This would work great as an alternative for any type of coco liner baskets, including hanging baskets with liners, hanging deck railing planters, or replacing coco liners for window boxes.
Even if you don’t have any sitting around in your garage and you have to buy landscaping fabric to replace your coconut liners, it will still be cheaper in the long run.
That is because the landscaping fabric will last much, much longer than the coconut liners.
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If you prefer the look of the coconut liners over the landscaping fabric, another great alternative wire basket liner is burlap.
A burlap liner will give you a similar look as the coco liners, but will last longer. You can buy burlap in a roll, and follow my instructions above to line your wire basket with burlap liner.
So, if you have any hanging baskets or wire baskets with liners sitting around collecting dust, give them new life with with these do-it-yourself wire basket liners!
More Container Gardening Posts
- How To Make Potting Soil For Containers (with recipe!)
- 15 Best Container Vegetables For Pots & Planters
- How To Paint Terracotta Pots Step-By-Step
- How To Make An Easy DIY Tiered Planter
- 21 Best Container Plants For Pots
Have you figured out a cheap alternative to coconut liners too? Tell me about it in the comments below.
Roberta Bogner says
Oh my. Much simpler than what I did- made baskets out of Astroturf and painted them brown/cinnamon.
Narelle Elliot says
I just wondered if you came up with an idea to use up the old coconut liners??
Amy Andrychowicz says
I just toss the worn out coco liners into the compost bin.
Bev says
Hello – love the idea of using landscaping fabric or burlap to line my wire baskets!! I am wondering if the water will drain thru as it does quite a bit in the coco liner? I thought it drained too much water when I watered. Maybe I be am doing something wrong!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, the water will drain through fairly quickly, similar to the coconut liners. If your baskets are drying out too quickly, you can line them with layer of plastic before filling them with soil. Just make sure to poke holes in the bottom of the plastic so the water won’t pool in there.
Lynn says
Beyond funny i thought of that a long time ago, but husband said ugly. Think as well to wire black spool wire to fir it up on the outside. It is a pretty big gap between frames. Dont get me wrong i did it last year as well. I think it looks fine. Great idea.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Funny! And thank you.
Diane Desenberg says
I am considering lining the inside of my new civo baskets. Would this idea save the coco from disintegrating? Then you still get the coco effect against the black metal.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Unfortunately the fabric won’t do anything to keep the coco liners from breaking down.
Rosie D says
I did this this year. Got tired of how the coco liners were becoming messy. I used plant wire to secure some edges so liner would not bunch up. So far I have had success. This is a great idea. Doubling up on liner can also help. I fear the plastic bag may create mold around liner and start creating problems. But the weed liner is a great idea.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, glad to hear the fabric worked to replace your messy coco liners!
Jessica says
Hello,
Do I need to line the planter with plastic (with holes) to hold water better. I am in zone 9b.
Thank you,
Jess
Amy Andrychowicz says
You certainly could line the basket with plastic after installing the fabric liners to help retain moisture if you’d like. I haven’t done that with mine, but some people have done it.
Raina says
I have a small wire stand that I used the leaves from a big red mulberry (about 8″ across, almost foot long) to line it.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, great idea to use resources you already have to line your baskets!
Kathleen says
I want to put succulents in my hanging baskets, I don’t want to hold moisture in the way I would for other plants. Will the fabric drain enough for succulents?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, this fabric drains quickly. I have succulents planted in mine, and they are very happy! 🙂