Every year I lose a couple of containers to breakage, but I can usually anticipate which ones those will be. My shallow bowls have lasted me three winters already. There is a chip out of one, but that's because a chair fell on it in a windstorm one summer. Sometimes I move the bowls next to the house for the winter, but I left them out this year and they were okay.
Shallow Bowl Planters, January 2006
The containers I lose are the orange terra cotta pots, which always flake and crack. They are not made for our climate, even the fancy IKEA ones that are supposedly frost-friendly. I also made the mistake of leaving a thin ceramic pot outside for the winter, and it cracked right in half.
IKEA Pot after Winter 2008
A few years ago, I had some light concrete troughs (something similar to hypertufa, maybe), and seeing how thick they were, you'd think they would last a long time. Unfortunately, the material was full of open spaces that let the water in and they simply fell apart after the second winter. I did manage to get two summers out of them, though.
Concrete Trough Planter, Summer 2004
(only lasted one winter)
The containers that work best for me -- the ones I don't need to empty or move for the winter -- are:
- cast iron urns (mine could use a coat of paint now after 4 years -- I'll probably spray them with some black Tremclad)
- large, 1" thick ceramic pots from the garden centre
- plastic containers (they are quite effective when grouped together, mixed in with ceramic containers -- I usually choose black or dark green, in at least a 12" size)
- my "stone-look" containers that are actually made of resin
Pansies in the Cast-Iron Urn, Spring 2008
Thick-Walled Ceramic Container, Spring 2007
Mixed Planters, Summer 2006
(white bowl was a freebie)
Stone-Look Planter with Echeveria*
* Although the planter easily survives the winter, I have to plant a new echeveria every year, since they are not winter-hardy.
With the larger, heavy ceramic containers and the urns, I only replace the top one-third to one-half of the soil every year. I dig out the spent soil and put it in the composter, then I top up with potting soil, plant my container plants and make sure they have the right fertilizer (I use those slow-release granules -- feed once and forget!). Depending on the kind of plants you grow, most roots don't draw that heavily from the deeper soil anyway, so I don't think it's necessary to change it every year.
Cast-Iron Urns, Summer 2006
Specifically regarding the shallow bowls, someone asked me if I replace the soil that gets blown away by the wind. Well, the short answer is no. That's because I don't lose soil to wind. These bowls are planted with tight-packed hens'n'chicks (sempervivum). Any remaining space I "mulch" with pea gravel.
Pea Gravel Mulch in Shallow Bowl Planter
Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.
It's a very nice look, and the gravel keeps the soil from being blown away. Also, even though the bowls are shallow, I still only half-fill them, so the sides of the bowl will also protect the soil from the wind. Sempervivum do not require a lot of soil to thrive, and if you group different ones together they make a nice show.
4 comments:
That is a great Canadian article! I guess all of my planters are inside, but that is the work of dear husband and my laziness would have probably resulted in outdoor planters too. The cast iron pot must be really heavy. How in the world could you move it? That's interesting about the possible hypertufa pot. I would have left mine outdoor and been suprised! Good to know!
Only the vegetable containers survive here...the others just dry out as I forget about them!
I have some broken clay pots that didn't make it through the winter. Instead of trashing them, I plan to plant in them, on their sides, and put some wave petunias coming out of them, like a spilled pot, then some out of the existing hole from the top when I lay it over.
I hope it will make a nice whimsical look and feel to my one flowerbed.
Stacy, yes, there are lots of creative uses for broken clay pots. I put the pieces beneath my arbour bench so the neighbourhood cats can't lie under it and stalk birds in my yard.
Just remember to remove your whimsical construction before the first frost. (It's easier than picking up the broken pieces in the spring. Um, trust me on that one.)
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