When it comes to gardening I admit that my main concern is edibles–I just love having and tending my vegetable gardens, processing the food and enjoying the bounty all year. But I do enjoy a pretty flower now and then, and when it comes to my big wrap around front porch I’m actually quite vain.
Walmart and Better Homes and Gardens offered to send me a new planter for my porch, so sight unseen I said “sure”. Well when it arrived I once again felt blessed by the amazing kizmet I seem to have with these opportunities–not only was it a lovely tall planter that would fit right next to the front door (which has been a spot I’ve been meaning to fill) but it was also the perfect red color to match my red painted wicker porch furniture!
I ran right out and picked up some potting soil from Walmart along with some nice mixed red & pink “Pop in Containers” by Better Homes and Garden (which are great if you aren’t sure what plants to put together).
That’s when I realized I had a problem. I had a large planter. A really large planter. And even though I bought a big bag of potting soil–it wasn’t going to come close to filling up that planter. I needed some filler!
There are lots of things that you can use for filler in a planter. The key is to take up some space while still allowing drainage. Speaking of drainage–what the heck is it with the big pots these days? None of them seem to come with drainage holes. I will tell you–if you don’t drill holes in them then you WILL get root rot on your plants. I was lucky–the hole drilling fairy (aka Yankee Bill) mysteriously popped by and drilled holes in the bottom of my pot while I wasn’t looking. Since it’s a plastic material a regular drill bit on a cordless drill just zipped right through.
But back on to filler. You need to ensure that your filler will allow drainage. You should consider how heavy your pot will be when complete–if you want to be able to move the planter after it’s filled use one of the lighter options. If your planter will contain edibles then you will also want to make sure you take that into account when choosing your fillers.
In my case my planter was pretty much going to stay put once placed. I didn’t want to purchase anything and my recycle bin had been emptied the day before. What I did have was some broken pottery and rocks–so in it went. You probably don’t want to fill your planter more then 1/3 of the way up with a filler material–not only does your plant need some soil to grow in, but the more soil you have the less often you will have to water. Soil acts as a sort of sponge.
Here are 12 ideas for items you can use to fill your large planters!
12 Fillers for Large Planters
-Rocks
-Broken crockery
-Nursery Sixpacks
-Plastic containers with lids
-Packing Peanuts
-Tin Cans
-An inverted smaller pot
-Soda bottles
-Wood Chip Mulch
-plastic Easter Eggs
-pinecones
-Milk Jugs
I think that it came out looking beautiful!
****This is a sponsored post****
Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have a few large planters, but I’m not sure what to fill them with before I can put plants in them. Filling them with wood chip mulch seems like a great idea. I have a bunch of wood chip mulch left over, and I was wondering what to do with it. Putting my extra mulch in a planter would be a good way to use it until I need to apply more mulch to my backyard.
Mulch may not be a good filler. As it breaks down and starts to decompose it will create heat, which may not be good for the roots of your potted plants.
I like your idea! I have a lot of pine cones on my property, so I could use those to fill up my planter. I’m very excited for spring and to take my yearly trip to the gardening store. I want to fill up my front porch with flowers, so I’ll be using your tip to fill the larger planters.
The pine cones may make your soil acidic over time as they break down and rot. However that is likely to take a few seasons.
I just purchased a huge Better Homes and Garden pot to transplant my ginger plant. I plan on harvesting the ginger to eat … so I want to be careful what I put in the bottom. These are good suggestions … still not sure though.
The other thing is that I plan on moving the pot indoors for the winter and it needs to be as lightweight as possible.
Thank you for this post.