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Thursday, July 09, 2015

Planter Risers

One of the biggest struggles I have in a shaded garden is proper drainage for my planters.

This past June, we had immense rainfall in the GTA. 165mm worth. I never had to water my planters last month. They have holes at the bottom, but sometimes the gap between the ground and the pot doesn't allow for adequate drainage.


In the planter above, I lost one annual from rotting, even though there are 8 drainage holes.

Raising planters and pots off the ground also keep the pots from harbouring slugs and pill bugs. At night, they crawl out from beneath perfect hiding spots and devour foliage.

Having looked online for potted planter "feet", I was shocked on how much they were asking. I tried to find cheaper alternatives.

Below you can see, I used small interlocking stones beneath my larger planters and when the pot is removed, there hid the culprits. This method wasn't working.


Today, I was in my local hardware store, walking down the plumbing isle, when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted these:


Perfect!

Don't ask me what they are for. Just some PVC plumbing rings. $17.85 & 28 pieces later, I bought enough for my needs.


One on each corner and within 1 minute of placing them, water flowed through.


For square/rectangular pots, I used one on each corner and for the round, 3; spaced equally.


The PVC ring won't be a sheltered pedestal for these pill bugs or slugs anymore.


My plants have suffered enough.


Bring on the rain. I don't need to worry anymore.

2 comments:

  1. Isn't it amazing how much it costs for the simplest things. I'm not cheap by any means but also not throwing my money away lol. So I appreciate people who come up with the thrifty methods that I know exist. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the idea!
    I have some leftover PVC pipe and a mitre saw I can cut it into pieces with, so they're free!

    ReplyDelete

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