Upcycling a Metal Oil Drum in Your Garden

With a few DIY skills, upcycling can be a great way to enhance your garden. One of the items that could be upcycled in your garden in a range of different ways is an old metal oil drum. Thoroughly cleaned of hazardous materials, such an item can be incredibly useful in many gardens. There are plenty of ideas for upcycling an old metal oil drum. For example, you could:


Make a Metal Oil Drum Barbecue


One cool alternative to buying a new barbecue to prepare the produce that you grow in your garden is making your own. Cutting open an old metal drum could allow you to create an excellent covered grill for all your outside summer cook ups. You could also cut down a metal drum and half bury it in the ground to create an open fire pit,which you could then top with a grill, or use to cook with a Dutch oven or other outdoor cooking equipment.


Make a Metal Oil Drum Charcoal Retort


Interestingly, you could also use an old metal oil drum to make a retort – a vessel in which to create a fire and make your own charcoal. There are plenty of how-to articles online which will help you to make your own charcoal for your summer barbecues. Charcoal that you make in your garden could also be soaked in a compost mix to make biochar, which can sequester carbon and be used to maintain fertility in your growing areas.


Make a Metal Oil Drum Smoker


If you like to cook outside, you could also consider upcycling an old metal drum to make a smoker, to increase your outdoors cooking repertoire. You can smoke not only meats and fish, but also cheeses, and even some of the vegetables that you have grown in your garden.


Make a Metal Oil Drum Planter


You could also simply repurpose an old metal drum to make a garden planter. Simply line the vessel and then fill it with your growing medium and plant it up with the ornamental or edible crops of your choosing. (Remember, if you plan on having food around the drum, it is important to make sure that it is completely clean of contaminants.)


Make a Metal Oil Drum Garden Bench


You can also upcycle an old metal drum to make a beautiful garden bench to improve a seating area in your garden. There are actually a range of different ways to create seating from old metal drums. You could also consider making chairs, or padded bench seating for a comfortable recreation area in your garden.


These are just a few of many upcycling ideas that you could consider for an old metal drum. Other ideas might include something as simple as a storage spot for garden tools, or as sophisticated as an outdoors wood-fired stove to provide hot water for greenhouse heating, or even for a garden hot tub. Use your imagination and you will find plenty of ways to make use of things that might otherwise have been thrown away in your garden.