This is my favorite time of year. I love all the lawn mowing and planting! Everything is green and it isn't too hot yet. I was planting my front entry flower pots this past weekend and decided it would be a good idea to repost my tips for planting pots.
Tips for Planting Pots
Tip #1
If you have a really tall planter like this, add packing peanuts, empty plastic pots upside down, pine cones, or something else lightweight to the bottom half of pot so you don't have to fill the whole thing with dirt. It makes the pot easy to move and your plants don't need that much dirt anyway. Also, make sure your pot has drainage holes.
Tip #2
I like to add different textures as well as different heights to planters so I grabbed some grass, vines, and of course flowers. I try to get a plant with small flowers and one with large flowers.
Tip #3
Make sure you are choosing flowers that all have the same sun/shade requirements. Don't mix a shade loving flower with a sun loving one. If your porch gets little light, pick shade loving varieties. And if your porch is full sun all day, make sure your plants can handle that.
Tip #4
Plants in containers dry out faster than those in the ground. Make sure to water regularly. Set a reminder on your phone. Darker containers will heat up more than lighter ones so they may need to be watered more often. I like to add moisture retaining granules to help them from drying out in the summer heat.
PIN For Later:
Do you have any tips for planting pots that I should add?
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What are you favorite flowers to add to large pots?
This is so pretty to keep them looking amazing remember to add fertilizer (Liquid Fish) say around July, this will give those plants an added boost. I normally use Llama tea from our farm which is fantastic and my planters love it.
I love liquid fish! It stinks but works great!
Great mix Stacey, and the pots looks beautiful flanking your door!
I like your flowers they are beautiful, the pots are really nice I'm going to look for them at Walmart. So far this spring I have only planted some tomatoes , my flowers are next. thank you for the tips
Just about every piece of electronics you buy, comes packaged in Styrofoam block.. I fill my large pots till about 6" of the top and then add my soil. This makes it so much easier than picking out packing peanuts if you compost your previous years soil...After filling with soil.... thoroughly shake the pots to allow the soil to settle between the blocks... and add more soil of course. Rarely will root development go any deeper than the top 6 inches.
Or gallon sized milk jugs, 2 liter soda plastic bottles, plastic water bottles work great also1
I love these tall, slim planters. Definitely going to check them out online. Thanks for the planting tips and thanks for linking up with us a the #HomeMattersParty this week!
i love your idea to put those peaces of styrofoam ! maybe i have to redo mine for that purpose !
Put diapers in the bottom of the pot. They hold a ton of water. So. Water less often. I put these in my window boxes. Works like a charm. Perfect flower for big pots and window boxes is dragon wing begonias. Big, showy leaves and flowers all season with No dead heading.
I’m so glad I found your post , great ideas and now I’m even happier seeing your pots. I have the exact ones (2) dark (1) light have had them for several years (Walmart)now ,thinking of a color change ! Also like your plant pick’s & the information “ happy planting “👒🪴
Thank you! Yep, I got them at Walmart and it is still one of my favorite places to get affordable pots.
You flowers and pots are very pretty. I tried packing peanuts in my flower pots that look identical to yours but they kept blowing over. I live in Iowa and it can be quite windy. I added 50 pounds of sand to my pots and now they never blow over. Of course there's no picking them up but I get them where I want by holding the top and rotating them!!!
Is a sky pencil shrub idea for a tall pot? Thank you
A sky pencil shrub will do best in the ground, but it could do well in a large pot for a few years before being transplanted to the ground. They are beautiful!
Love your containers! I planted a Rose "tree" in a tall container but I used small cans and water bottles in the bottom on mine to save on soil. So far so good.
Great idea! I didn’t have or want to buy styrofoam that is hard to recycle, However, we have plenty of cans! Thanks!
Can you please list the the names of the plants you used in you planters? They are beautiful!
I absolutely love the tall brown planter with the pink and white flowers! What type of grass, vine and flowers are they? Thanks!!
The vine is called periwinkle. It is a ground cover. The grass I think is a type of rush. Maybe California blue rush?
I do several pots for outside in front or around commercial & private buildings and have found that using a pot that fits inside the "big/outside" pot works quite well. This way I can do all the arranging inside or wherever is convenient & just set into outside pots when ready. This also allows me to prepare these pots early before last frost has passed & leave them inside until weather is agreeable. This also allows me to prepare seasonal inserts to just drop into outside pots when weather is no longer good for live plants. I actually have 3 or 4 sets of pots with silk or seasonal arrangements that I store until season comes in.
I have used empty milk cartons, water bottles and best of all, I have used cut-up pool noodles; cheap at Dollar Tree.
One thing to remember is to have good drainage and have your container sitting up on a plant stand of some sort so it isn't directly on flat surface. Me, I use old cooling racks for my potted plants to sit up on. The pots will drain better when they are up on some sort of rack, grate or terra cotta feet.