If you’re tired of buying expensive coconut liners every spring, then you’re going to love my cheap solution, and you can do it yourself.
I came up with this idea way back in 2011, and my DIY alternative liners look just as great today as they did when I first made them.
This inexpensive project is easy to do with materials you probably have lying around the house. Plus, my coco liner substitution 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. The result? Well, it’s not pretty.
I love my wire basket planters, but they are unusable without the coconut liners. I could buy fresh replacement ones every spring, but that gets to be very expensive.
I don’t know about you, but I just couldn’t justify the cost every year, so my favorite wire planter ended up sitting in the garage. And every time I looked at it I felt sad and frustrated.
It finally got to the point where I was either going to get rid of it, or figure out how I could make it usable again. Challenge accepted!
What To Use As An Alternative For Coconut Liners
One day while I was cleaning the garage, I found a bunch of leftover landscaping fabric that was just collecting dust. Aha! I found my solution.
When I came up with the idea, I was so excited. Not only is the fabric much cheaper than buying brand new coco basket liners, but it will also last longer.
If you don’t like the idea of landscaping fabric, a burlap liner will give you a similar look as the coco liners, but will last longer. You can buy it in a roll, and use that instead.
Otherwise if you prefer the coconut liners over the fabric options, it’s cheaper to buy it in a large roll than it is to get the preformed sizes.
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How To Make Easy DIY Landscaping Fabric Planter Liners
This works great as an alternative for any type of coco liners, including a free-standing planter like mine, wire hanging baskets, and deck railing or window boxes.
Supplies Needed
- Wire planter or hanging basket
- Landscaping fabric
- Sharp scissors
- Floral wire
- Wire cutters
Instructions
Step 1: Cut the fabric – To figure out how much you need, lay the landscaping fabric over the wire basket and press it into the bottom. Then cut the fabric so you have a good 3-4 inch overlap all the way around the top of the basket.
Step 2: Attach the fabric to the basket – Cut a 3-4″ piece of floral wire with your wire cutters and bend it into a U shape. Then use it to attach the fabric to the basket by poking the wire through the liner, and twisting the ends together on the inside of the basket.
Step 3: Straighten the liner as you go – Repeat step 2 to continue to attach the liner to your planter at each cross section. As you work your way around the basket, straighten the liner and fold it nicely so the landscaping fabric wouldn’t bunch up in one spot at the end.
I found that it helped to add soil into the liner as I worked my way around the basket to weigh it down, get it into the right form and shape, and also to hold it in place.
Step 4: Fill it with soil – Once the fabric is attached all the way around the wire basket, finish filling it with soil. Then gently press it down to make sure the liner is firmly in place, and there aren’t any weird folds or gaps.
Step 5: Trim off the extra fabric – Trim off any extra fabric that’s sticking out above the top of the basket so that it’s even with the rim of your planter. Don’t cut it too short, or it could pop through and spill out some of the soil.
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Step 6: Plant your brand new wire basket – Now that you’ve added your alternative coco liners, you can plant your wire basket again with anything you want.
To save myself even more cash, I decided to plant a mix of hardy sedums in mine rather than using annuals that need to be replaced every spring. That way, I can just overwinter them in the garage and keep them growing year after year. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
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Look at that, my wire basket planter is brand new, and I never have to buy expensive coconut liners again. If you have any of these sitting around collecting dust in your garage, give them new life with these inexpensive do-it-yourself replacement wire basket liners.
Have you figured out a cheap alternative to coconut liners too? Tell me about it in the comments below.
Sara says
I’ve been using coco liners for years and have had a variety of problems with them. I’m going to try the landscape fabric with my wire hanging baskets. Does it help retain moisture? I’ve read other blogs suggesting plastic garbage sacks, cut to fit, over coco liners to help with the need to water everyday. Would the plastic liners help with the landscape liners too, or are the landscape liners sufficient?
Amy Andrychowicz says
No, the landscaping fabric does not help retain moisture. Lining them with plastic is a great idea… just make sure there are drainage holes in the plastic.
Beth Shully says
I use plastic grocery store bags to line my planeters. Poke holes in the bottom for drainage, then i use a diaper, fill with soul, trim plastic, tuck excess into dirt, then plant. The liner keeps the coco or burlap clean and prevents early rotting.
Melody says
Amy,
I am so glad I found your post. Birds have been wreaking havoc on my hanging wire baskets I have lined with the coco liners. After reading your post, I was pulled out the coco liners, flowers and all and lined my baskets with landscape fabric. I then placed the coco liners on top of the fabric and cut off the excess fabric. No more birds tearing away at the liners. I have to say, the fabric made the baskets look better.
Thanks again
Amy Andrychowicz says
Great, I’m so glad to hear that this was the solution you were looking for! The fabric will last much longer than the coco liners too.
J Glenn says
My mom always said two heads are better than one. That works for great ideas as well. I used both the burlap and the landscaping fabric. I lined my planters first with the burlap and used the landscaping fabric inside of the burlap. Zip ties were used to secure both the burlap and fabric. It was a very simple and easy process. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. A tip to stretch your potting soil is to add a layer of mulch first then add potting soil and finally top off with mulch to help plants retain water and prevent drying out.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sounds like a great solution, thanks for sharing! And a great tip about the mulch too! Awesome.
Pam says
I do this exact thing except for the mulch. What a great idea! Thanks.
Ronda says
Great idea. My idea is to use burlap coffee bags as the liner, that I get free at a local commercial distributor. I also use these for ground cover to keep weeds at bay. It works great, I layer them for better coverage in my garden rows. Keep up the good work!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sounds like a great option for sure! I bet they look lovely. I love the idea of using the burlap bags as a weed barrier, you’re lucky to a source for such and wonderful resource like this.
James says
Thanks for the tip! I’ve been replacing my coconut liners until now, but I’ll try the fabric alternative.
Another tip- I grow strawberry plants in some of my hanging baskets. They’re perennial, so you don’t have to do anything to them in the Spring (except possibly replace the liner, and take away the dead stems). They come up again like magic every Spring.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Great! Thanks for your tip too! I love strawberries!
James says
Mine are just beginning to flower now, so hopefully there should be a good crop of strawberries this year. They’re pretty easy to grow, and when they produce runners, you can stick these back into the soil & they become new plants. They just need a bit of liquid plant food every week or so to maximize fruit production.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wonderful, I love it! It sounds beautiful.
Julie Levato says
Thank you for the great alternative to coco liners. I have a beautiful, 3 tier, verdigis corner planter that I have been unable to use for three years because the containers that came with it descinigrated over time. Great idea. Thanks again.
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re so welcome! Glad to hear you’ll be able to reuse your beautiful wire basket planter again!
Patty says
I had an old, upholstered footstool on the covered patio. I had intended to re-cover it when we got a puppy. He chewed into the fabric and exposed the old fashioned filling which was finely shredded natural fibers, possibly what was called cellulose in years past. It looked just like the coconut liners but was not formed. I emptied the stool of all the filler, set it out in the rain to remove any dust that I didn’t want to breath, and filled my wire containers with it. It worked great!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, that is very clever of you Patty! Great job on the repurposing!
ray webber says
i believe that is jute and is still available and is natural and cheap
Beth @ PlantPostings says
I’m going to have to try this, Amy. Great idea! I think I need to splurge next spring for new baskets, though, or I might opt to spray paint them. Your blog is looking great!
Amy Andrychowicz says
I would totally try spray painting them first, I bet that would give the new life!! Thanks Beth, I’m glad you like the new site!!
luvbrie says
I actually purchased some hanging wire baskets for the first time at a goodwill store and applied spray paint on them (I didn’t like the original color). So, yes, spray paint the baskets — I spray paint everything! What I don’t understand is how come everyone is using the liners instead of flower pots. I didn’t know ppl placed the liners in the wired basket. I purchased cheap, colorful flower pots (different sizes) and they look great in the wired baskets. I’m sure the plastic will last a lifetime!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Using flower pots in wire baskets instead of liners is definitely an option.
Greg Sawyer says
What exactly is landscape fabric? Are you talking about the weed barrier that is usually under the soil in yards? We have a really good home depot where I live but need some clarity on what the fabric is or if I go and ask for that will they know what I am talking about?
Love your page and all the useful information,especially the info I found on propogating spider plants. Thanks much. Greg
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, the fabric weed barrier. Get the thick kind, not super thin stuff.
Thanks so much, I’m glad you like it!
Amy
Tamara says
Burlap is also a good alternative!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, burlap is a great alternative to coconut liners too!
James says
Good idea, although I’m just wondering if burlap might rot?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, the burlap will rot over time, but would last a little longer than the coconut liners. The landscaping fabric will last much, much longer than burlap.
Adrien says
So then using burlap should give you at least a year’s worth of use? I am trying to decide which burlap to buy. There are so many options. Any advice? I see 10oz and 7oz. I’m guessing the 10oz will be better as it’s heavier and therefore more durable?
Amy Andrychowicz says
As long as the birds don’t rip it apart like they do with coconut liners, then burlap should last longer, LOL! Yes, I would recommend getting the thicker burlap.
Krissy D says
Thanks for sharing this great idea. I purchased two large wire planters at a salvage store. They were cheap but buying new liners would be very expensive because of their size. I’ve got some landscape cloth in the potting shed so I’m going to try this and see what happens.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Hi Krissy,
Isn’t it funny how the coconut liners can be more expensive to buy than a new wire basket planter sometimes? Sad! That’s probably why they planters were at the thrift store in the first place! Hope it works out well for you.
Anonymous says
Are the replacement liners still holding up? I've been looking for ideas to line my wire basket planters, and this one is great! I would need to go out and buy the materials so any feedback on how it has worked out would be appreciated 🙂 Thank you in advance- Sarah
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, the landscaping fabric liners are holding up great! Plus the plants have survived two years in the garage overwinter, so the planter has filled in really well. I was going to take a picture the other day and post it, but I totally forgot. Thanks for the reminder, I will try to do that this week. If you end up doing this, I would love to see pictures.
Amy
Amy Morlan says
I did the same thing except I left fabric hanging over sides then used a rubber band tucked the extra fabric under rubber band then pulled extra fabric back up over inside of pot and buried fabric with potting soil. This gives it a nice finished edge all around the pots.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Cool, thanks for sharing! Great idea.
Sherry Tevis says
This sounds good but I am trouble visualizing it
Just how my brain works..haha. but I want to try it.
Did you do this with burlap or weed cloth?
Hoover Boo says
That's a good idea! You did a nice job, too. It looks great.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Thanks you!
Cynthia says
I used burlap a d it worked great!
Cindy says
And burlap is made from a natural resource, jute or sisal. There *are* organic landscape fabrics, but most are usually formed of polypropylene.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yeah, I'm glad to hear you're going to try the landscaping fabric in place of the coconut replacement liners. Hopefully it will work for you too. Have fun!
Amy
RandomGardener says
Great idea! I've got a few of those metal planters that I couldn't find the perfect liners, so they're stuck in the garage. I will try this idea, thanks!
wallis parnelle says
Have any leftover window screen material, or old window screen fabric? Works too. Reuse recycle always has surprises and is fun to create.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, great to hear that window screen worked a a liner for your wire baskets! Thanks for sharing.