So you’ve picked and received your garden planter, what now? Your next exciting step is placing your planter in your chosen space and filling it with wonderful foliage. Our planters are perfect for any type of plant and extremely easy to use. Garden planters have a certain duality where they can be used as indoor planters, outdoor, on decking, patios, grass, raised garden beds and more. Therefore, it is important to know each step of how to plant your planter.
Choosing the right time to plant your planter
Various plants will flower at different times throughout the year, for the plants to grow successfully, you should pick the right time to plant your garden planter. Bulbs that will flower in spring should be planted in the autumn and bulbs that flower in the summer should be planted in the spring. Planters intended for use in the winter should be planted in the late summer or early autumn. Vegetables are a bit more resilient with brassicas vegetables growing over the winter months, but generally March and April are the best times to sow your vegetable seeds.
Choose the right planter
Check out our previous blog post which advises you on how to choose the right pots and planters for your garden. We recommend considering colour schemes and various plant combinations. We have a variety of garden planters at FloraSelect and many of them look fabulous in groups or pairs. Therefore, it is worth displaying matching planters with a variety of tall, round and trailing plants to create a garden full of depth.
Position of your planter
One of the many perks of using a garden planter is that they are moveable, which makes positioning a less serious decision in comparison to planting in the ground. Despite this, we do recommend choosing a position carefully before filling your planter with soil. Otherwise you may find your planter is too heavy to move! Depending on the type of plant, be aware of where in your garden gets the most light and shade. Plants are generally better placed in the position of the morning sun so they get light but are not dried out after too much heat in the afternoon.
Temperature
Plants’ ideal temperatures are typically between 12-23˚C, which is important to be aware of when planting. Containers tend to warm up and cool down more intensely in comparison to planting in the ground, however this is quickly rectified by their movability. Depending on their location in the garden, you can move them into the shade or sun as required. If the garden planters are too full to move, you could always half plant them in the ground to benefit from the natural insulation of the soil.
Filling your planter
Deciding which material to fill your garden planter with is crucial for plant health. Most people typically choose between potting soil and potting mix, both of these mixes have varying qualities.
Potting Soil
- Typical filler
- Contains dirt
- Not sterile unless stated
- May contain compost
Potting mix
- Contains peat but peat-free compost is available
- Typically contains either sedge peat or moss peat- moss peat is lighter and sedge peat is not as fine and more decomposed
- Does not contain soil
- Has better aeration
- Has better drainage
- Can potentially include a slow-release starter fertiliser
Plant care
Before planting, take your plant out of its original pot and make sure it isn’t rootbound. If it is, loosen the roots and dip them in water. For smaller plants put their roots in a bucket of water to ensure that they are hydrated before planting them. After you have prepped your plant, place it into the soil/mix and fill the gap between the plant roots and the sides of the planter with more soil/mix.
Water your plants!
Water your plants and be aware that watering in containers can differ to watering plants in the ground. Try not to completely soak your soil, just a moist surface is ideal. Alternatively, you could get a Mona Plant Watering System which will water your plants as and when they need it.
Specific advice for Corten Steel Planters
Some garden planters require different kinds of attention, so we’ll take you through how to plant in your gorgeous Corten Steel planter…
Placement
- Please place your corten steel planters on a flat surface.
- The tension rods inside the planters are essential, please do not move these. They are crucial for the construction and dimensional stability of the planter.
- To prevent moisture build up, leave enough breathing space around the planters.
How to plant
- Fill your planter with a 10cm high level of stones. Alternatively, you could reuse your old polystyrene and break it up as a substitute for the stones.
- After that, place a moisture-permeable anti-root cloth on top of the pebbles.
- On top of the anti-root cloth, put a layer of airy soil mixture.
- Carefully place your plant in the airy soil mixture.
Specific advice for Fibreglass, Fibreglass glossy, Aluminium, Galvanised steel and Hardwood planters
These planters can all be planted very similarly, so if you’ve just bought a gorgeous new fibreglass planter or even a sustainable hardwood planter, this next section is for you!
Placement
- Please place your planters on a flat surface.
- If placing your planter outside, please drill drainage holes in the bottom of your planter. Some of our planters come with drainage holes and others need to be requested, if unsure about this when ordering your planter please contact us by email on [email protected].
- If you would prefer to create a water reservoir, you could place overflow pipes in the bottom of your planter.
- It is crucial that you do not remove the reinforcement ribs in the plants as they contribute to the construction and dimensional stability of the planter.
- To prevent moisture build-up, leave enough breathing space around the planters.
How to plant
- Please fill your planter with a 10cm high layer of hydro grains.
- After that, place a moisture-permeable anti-root cloth on top of the pebbles.
- On top of the anti-root cloth, layer on top with an airy soil mixture adapted to the planting to be applied.
- Carefully place your plant in the airy soil mixture.
If you need any advice planting your planter or about planters in general, please call on 01245 422353 or email on [email protected]