Lazy Decorative Planters
I love to garden. I like to plant things, water them, and watch them grow. There is, however, a part of me that is stronger than my love of gardening….that’s Lazy. While I certainly love some annuals (plants that only live for one year or season then need to be replanted.) I struggle to rationalize spending time and money on plants that just won’t stick around when I have a whole acre to try and landscape and maintain. Hence my love of planting perennials (plants that will go dormant and then return year after year.) In this post I will walk you through how to choose perennial plants for your decorative planters that you won’t have to spend time and money to redo next year!
First things first, you will need supplies. If you don’t already have a container or containers you will have to buy some. I had these old things laying around so I decided to use these. Here is a link to some similar containers although mine are old…
Next I had to buy plants and accessories. I usually like to work in groups of three so I knew before going for plants that I would want three plants for each of my three containers and my general rule of thumb is that for each container you will want one of each of the following kinds of plants.
- One tall filler plant
- One medium sized feature plant (something colorful or eye catching)
- One short filler (Or even better a plant that will spill over the edges of your container, a spiller, if you will.)
I also like to add a small solar light in each planter, and I choose one cute decorative item for the entire grouping of containers. I have found that too many decorative “things” just ends up looking too busy for my taste. While getting plants I saw the wind mill that went with the color scheme I was going for and so I snagged it to use for my one decorative item.
While still at the nursery I will place plants together in groups together like the photo below to make sure that I like the way they look together. Also, be sure that all the plants you buy are perennials and that they like similar conditions like sunlight and moisture. The plants that I chose all love the sun (6+ hours a day) and like moist well draining soil so as long as I have them all in those conditions they should live great with one another!
Because soil can be expensive I try to use the soil I have if at all possible which is why I chose to reinvigorate some of the soil that was already in my containers. To do this I first remove a good amount of the old soil.
Then I like to add worm castings. Worm castings is really just a nicer way of saying worm poop but they are great for soil and you can buy them from most nurseries. I however have family friends that own a bait and tackle business that counts and sells night crawlers for fishing purposes so I take a shovel and head to their place.
Here is a link to worm castings you can order from a family owned and operated company. Life Cycle Organics 100% Organic Worm Castings – 20 oz. Resealable Zip Pouch
Once you’ve added your castings you will want to mix some fertilizer or food into your watering can per the instructions. I use miracle grow quick start because I find that it is more gentle and seems to help plants that are being transplanted without burning the link to it is here.
Miracle-Gro Quick Start Planting & Transplant Starting Solution (Liquid), 48 oz.
I then use this solution to water my dry soil and castings until it starts looking moist enough to plant into.
Once your old soil has been reinvigorated you can finish filling with the new potting soil
Once I am happy with the arrangement, I start by planting the biggest plants first and working my way down. Use good planting techniques such as…
- Making sure all plants are well watered before transplanting and are being planted into moist soil.
- Remove plants from containers gently by squeezing the sides and gently tipping them upside down being careful not to squish or break any stems or leaves.
- Be careful not to break roots whenever possible.
- Place into soil and then gently press down around the edges of the plants being sure they are completely covered with soil. This can be hard in small containers so take your time and gently lift plants out of your way to fill in all the holes and press lightly around their bases.
- Thoroughly water each container after all plants have been transplanted.
Add your solar light into the front and your decorative item wherever you think it looks best. Repeat with your other containers and Voila! Now you have a beautiful group of containers that will come back year after year if properly taken care of!
