Thursday, September 20, 2012

How To: Customize A Pre-Made Planter For Fall

Planter After Square WM

On the weekend we bought a 12 inch fall planter from Rona for $14.99. After looking at plants and planters for the last few weeks, I knew that I could not buy the plants that made up the planter for less than that price.  The pre-made planter included an aster, a mum, a very large kale plant and a spike.  Added bonus: the asters and mum will bloom again next year if I plant them in the garden afterwards.

I was a little thrown by the asymmetrical flower arrangement (in particular, the spike) but I knew that I could tweak it once I brought it home.

I tried it out in both of my urns and discovered that it wouldn’t fit in either one, so I tested it in my go-to fall planter, a wooden barrel that I bought a few years ago from the grocery store that has more than paid for itself.

Good, but not great. That’s where a few more plants come into play.

Fall Planter Before Labels WM

Time to customize!

Since the barrel is wooden, I lined it with an industrial garbage bag to contain the moisture and cut several holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage  This worked really well for my summer window boxes that are still thriving today.

Newspaper and Garbage Bag Trick WM

Then I used the newspaper trick from my spring planters to keep the weight down.

Rain boots Labelled Layers

From there it was just a matter of filling the planter with soil, carefully separating the plants that were in the pre-made planter and arranging everything the way I wanted it in the barrel.

Here’s what I ended up with:

Planter Above Zoom WM 

And this is what I used if you like what you see:

Labels on Fall Planter

I know it’s not officially fall until Saturday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to leave this hiding in the backyard!

Planter After 2 WM

Planter After Zoom WM

I can’t wait to see how it fills out!

How much did it cost?

  • Pre-made planter: $14.99
  • Ornamental grass: $5.99
  • Kale: $1.98 x 2 ($3.96)
  • Soil: $4.94 (used for this + 3 other fall planters)
  • Barrel: $0 (already owned)

    ____________________________

    Total: $30 + tax for an enormous custom planter!

Planter After Vertical

Our porch has never looked better than in 2012.

Please, take a peek at how it has evolved through the seasons:

Spring 2012

Spring 2012 Front Porch

Summer 2012

Summer Front Porch WM

Fall 2012

Fall Porch Planter 2012 WM(so far . . . I’m just getting started!)

More fall projects are on the way soon!

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P.S. Thank you so much for all your sweet comments about Maggie. It meant so much to me.

P.P.S. Check out how to quickly update your mailbox with a vinyl monogram here.


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9 comments:

  1. I really like this planter, particularly the barrel planter and the fountain grass! I just saw fall planters at Superstore the other day with beautiful mums in them. How hardy are your plants and to what minimum temperature can they survive? Do you get much frost during Sept/Oct? We've only had one night of frost so far, but know others who have had a couple more. I got all my tomatoes & peppers picked the other day before it froze. There were just under 80 hot peppers on two plants! Apparently peppers must like a hotter, drier year.

    Have a good day and I can't wait to see the rest of your fall porch!

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  2. Lovely Claire! Your planter has so much more zing now that you have a dded some extra plants. I love those ornamental cabbages- the ruffly leaves are so textural!

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  3. Hi Claire, Your planter looks great! Love the way you added more plants to really customize it. Nice to meet a fellow Canadian and a fellow teacher!
    Dannyelle

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  4. Oh this is fall perfection at its finest! A truly cozy vignette.

    While we don't have much fall here in Phoenix I would love for you to stop by to see where I did find a bit of fall.

    Have a blessed day!

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  5. looks great! i love the barrel you put it into, and the kale! i'm debating about doing kale or pansies on my stairs. decisions, decisions, right?

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  6. Wow, I love your planter- it's huge! As much as I like to do my own arranging, sometimes the premade pots are a better deal and a quick fix! This summer I used a pre-made planter with begonias and ornamental grass, then added my own sweet potato vine to spill over the sides. I loved it! Your porch looks great! Thanks for reading today :) Katie

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  7. Pretty! I've got to jump on the kale bandwagon one of these days. Just wanted to come by and say hi! I hear we're practically neighbors!

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  8. Claire - Porch looks really nice. I definitely like the larger planter. You should be good till it's time to put up Christmas!!

    Judy

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