Interesting ideas for waist-high planters?

18 years ago

Hi all,

I bought six roses from Nor'East last year and was absolutely delighted when I opened the box--I don't think I'd ever seen anything so charming as those teeny, tiny roses, all of which were already in bloom.

I bought them for the front of a rose garden bed, but here's my question:

I'm nearly six feet tall and since the roses I chose weren't over a foot, I had to get down on my knees and bend over to smell them and look at them. Not ideal. I'm thinking of purchasing a waist-high container, one that's about a foot deep but is up on a frame (something like this but not wicker http://www.plantstandstore.com/wicker-planter-stand-shelf.htm), but I'm not eager to drop nearly $200 on a container. Also, in Lubbock, we get a lot of wind and containers dry out really quickly--I don't even bother with pots.

I thought I'd ask if anyone has any creative ideas or something that's worked for them well in the past. Worst comes to worst, I'll get a raised planter and just water it more often. But anyone have any better ideas?

Best,

WT Rose

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Comments (3)

thonotorose
18 years ago
I line the bottom of a lot of my containers with baby diapers. I like the Hug***s brand because they have no perfume and they have much more of the absorbent material then the cheaper brands do. Tar get' are good too.

I leave the plastic on and place them open, above the broken pottery or gravel, with the plastic side down and then add a layer of dirt.

If you dunk one in water you will see that they can hold a tremendous amount of water that will wick into your potting soil. I have also mixed the absorbent part only into the bottom of the pot mix after removing it from the plastic and fabric parts.

The cellulose part will break down over time, but you will probably be ready to re-pot then.

I have only had a problem with one window box that had pentas. I had to remove the diapers because they were too wet. I now believe that the window box was too shallow. I have not had any soggy issues with any of the other, deeper pots.

This is a GREAT thing to do in hanging baskets. Very helpful.
farmgirl
18 years ago
If you are handy with a hammer and saw, building a planter box is easy. Attach 2x4 legs with additional cross supports midway to the ground. Make the box about 18" deep as roses, even minis, will develop surprising root systems. I'd divide the box into equal sections to prevent root tangling or set potted roses directly in the box. Instead of diapers, polymer crystals mixed into the potting soil will prevent "soggy bottom". If you plant directly into the box, line the box with heavy plastic and staple window screen over the drain holes to keep soil in and bugs out. An easy large planter would be a half-wine barrel set on concrete "keystone" landscape blocks. Before drilling drain holes, fill barrel with water, dump in 1 or 2 boxes of baking soda and let sit for a few days. The soda helps neutralize the acids from the wine and oak.

Carol
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WestTexasRose
Original Author
18 years ago
Dear Thonotorose and Carol,

What wonderful ideas! Thanks so much! (And I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier--I had the message set to email me whenever anyone responded, and it wasn't working).

~WTR