DIY Backyard Canopy

If you need a quick (removable) backyard canopy, you’ll love this inexpensive DIY project.

For this project you’ll need the following items:

4 tall planters
4- 5 gallon buckets
4 bags of concrete, a couple shovels full of dirt or sand
1 bag of potting soil
4 6′-8′ Bamboo Poles or PVC Pipe painted to look like bamboo or wood

Center the PVC or Bamboo post in the bucket, pouring concrete around it. Repeat with the remaining pots. Let them dry fully. Once they’ve set Once dry, set the bucket into the tall planter, fill in with pebbles, leaving about 4 inches from the top. Fill the remainder of the top with potting soil and plant several flowering plants such as petunias.

To make the top, add a grommet to each of the four corners, then attach them to the pole using zip ties. Shower curtains actually work quite well for this, as do king sized sheets.

Here’s another utilizing a Painters Canvas Drop Cloth, this one looks best with PVC pipe painted to look like bamboo.

Here’s another example of PVC pipes made to look like bamboo! This is a really simple technique and it’s very inexpensive to recreate.

Here’s a tutorial on how to make PVC look like bamboo-

Hopefully that gives you some ideas to start with. The painters canvas drop cloth works great because it’s very durable and holds up well against the weather if you accidentally leave the canopy out.