What to put in the bottom of these pots?

[sfairley]

Hi all, I bought these lovely recycled pots but am wondering what I can put in the bottom of them. I don't want to fill the pot with rocks or soil but am looking for something I can sit a smaller pot  on (if that makes sense).

https://www.bunnings.com.au/respect-70cm-dark-grey-green-earth-tall-square-planter_p0360562

[BradN]

Hi @sfairley. Our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL will be back on the site later today and I'm sure he will be able to give you some good advice. Let me also tag experienced Workshop members @JoeAzza and @TedBear to see whether they have any ideas for you.

Brad

[sfairley]

Thanks Brad,

My thinking at the moment is to use empty 1.25l soft drink bottles and chopped up pool noodles, then sit a 28cm square pot with a saucer on those. I'll also put a few broken pavers in the bottom for stability. Open to any suggestions though.

Cheers

Sally

[BradN]

Hi Sally (@sfairley). Yes, it would be good to have some weight down the bottom for stability, even though those pots do have quite wide bases. It's always a good place for storing/hiding any old pavers, bricks, rocks and things that you have lying about the place.

Polystyrene packing materials are also good for filling up volume in big pots.

As for getting a flat, stable surface for your 28cm pots, the tapered shape of those tall pots makes me wonder if you could make squares of plywood or something that you can drop into the tall pots for your 28cm pots to sit on.

You might be able to measure the squares so that they naturally sit at the depth you need them. You might also want to cut a finger hole in the middle or the side of the squares to make sure you can get them back out again.

What plants are you planning to have in the 28cm pots? And where are you planning to put the taller pots? We'd love to see some photos when you get them set up.

Brad

[sfairley]

Thanks Brad,

Just after I sent the last reply I thought of something similar as I have some merbau decking offcuts lying around. The cutting will need to be spot on to get them level but I think it could work. I've got some old tiles sitting in the shed I can put on the merbau if needed to make it level.

I'm going to paint the pots to match my fence and they will have cordylines (I think they are rubras) in them. I'll let you know what I wind up  doing and post a pic once it's done.

Cheers

Sally

[EricL]

Hello @sfairley

My apologies for the late reply. Your idea of putting in the Merbau panels as a base is actually very good. You're absolutely correct when you say that the cut has to be spot on. In order to get a good idea of what level you'll need to put the panels at I suggest measuring the pots you'll be putting in. Once you have the level you'll be able to measure the width of the side of the pot and cut to that length.

As an alternative, I propose building a square stopper that you can easily lower into the pot. You can either leave it there temporarily or glue it in place with Selleys landscaping glue. I've drawn up a sample sketch for you to have a look at, please tell me what you think.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

 

[JoeAzza]

Hi @sfairley , all good suggestions, my suggestion is to use a plastic pot inverted, so you can sit the top plant pot on it, just get one to suit your pot, then fill around it with small chip bark to the level of the inverted pot.

[sfairley]

So I went back to Bunnings....

I found the Northcote 35cm square plastic pot sat neatly over the top of my tall pot so I planted into those and then sat them inside the tall pot. I painted the tall pots to match my fence and I am really happy with the result.

[EricL]

Hi @sfairley

Thank you very much for the update on your tall pots. I'm glad you found a suitable solution to plant in your tall pots. They look fantastic and the best part was that it was an easy solution.

Again, thank you for sharing your idea of planting tall pots.

Eric