Perfectly Potted Plants

Creative Planters
Pot your plants in ways that complement their shapes, colors and your home décor.

• Shapes: Mix organic shapes of plants with geometric-shaped pots like hexagons, squares or rectangles. Look for plastic, coated or vellum takeout boxes at your local craft store for an extra cute boxy look for small plants like herbs. To match the clean, geometric lines of your container, arrange plants in evenly spaced rows or circles or just pot a single, simple plant in the center.
• Materials: Go beyond terracotta for outdoor planters. Try hollowed-out stones or cinder blocks, repurposed birdbaths or wooden boxes. Or take a tip from Home Maven Patrick Brown and get whimsical with an antique tub, metal watering can or wooden barrel. You can even use his instructions to create your own Wildflower Barrel Planter. And for small decorative flowers or herbs you plan to keep indoors, try dainty ceramic cups and planters to match their diminutive size.
• Textures: Mix textures by covering a plain pot in soft fabric. Just use our simple sew or no-sew instructions for creating felted planter covers. They’re perfect for mixing with the prickly texture of a small cactus plant or dressing up an otherwise bland container to match your home décor. All you need is an old wool sweater to get started!
  
  Choosing the Perfect Planter
  Keep these rules of thumb in mind when choosing pots for your plants.
  • You can use just about anything that will hold soil as a planter. Ideally, the pot should have a diameter that is equal to 1/3 to 1/2 the height of the plant.
  • Holes in the bottom of your planter are essential for allowing excess water to drain away from the soil. Container grown plants are very susceptible to over-watering and drowning.
  • When drilling or cutting holes in the bottom of your planter is not an option, you do have a few alternatives:
    1. Add a layer of gravel below the soil for small decorative plants you plan to keep indoors where watering can be monitored closely.
    2. Pot your plant in an inexpensive plastic planter with holes in the bottom, and then place inside your decorative planter. Be sure to remove the plastic planter and pour out excess water every now and then to prevent the roots from drowning.

  Re-potting Basics
  Sooner or later, the roots of your plants will take up all of the available space inside your planter. When the roots have nowhere else to go, your plant will eventually stop growing altogether. Keep these step-by-step basics in mind when re-potting or transplanting your potted beauties into their new homes.

  Tip: When the weather’s nice, re-potting is the perfect project to take outdoors. But if you need to do your re-potting inside, Home Maven Patrick has the perfect solution for keeping things clean. Visit the Home Made Simple TV Outside Pleasures section of Bonus Clips to check out his Roasting Pan Potting video.

  1. Water your plant thoroughly several hours before removing it from the container. This helps to remove the roots from the planter more easily, and reduces the shock to the roots.
  2. Hold your hand on the potting mix so the base of the plant is between the index and middle fingers and turn the pot over. Tap the rim of the pot on the edge of a table or on the ground until the mass of roots slides out of the container. Never pull on the stem of the plant if it doesn’t immediately dislodge, simply continue tapping or rolling the pot until the roots slide out (in rare cases it may be necessary to cut or break the pot open to release the roots).
  3. Use your fingers to loosen the roots at the base and along the sides of the mass so they can grow into the new soil more easily. If you’re having difficulties unknotting, it may be necessary to cut some of the entangled roots to separate them. Just be sure not to damage any of the interior main roots (called ‘tap’ roots). Either way, you’ll need to remove any dead or damaged roots before it’s time to re-pot.
  4. To keep soil from draining through the holes of your new planter, place a small tray or pan underneath it. If there are no holes, add a small amount of gravel before adding the soil.
  5. Add potting soil to your planter until it reaches a level where the roots come within an inch of the top of the pot when you set your plant inside.
  6. Gently set the plant into the container, center it and face it in the direction of your choice. Once it’s standing straight, begin adding potting soil around the roots, packing it lightly to fill in the gaps. Leave at least 3/4” at the top of the pot for watering purposes.
  7. Finally, water the plant well and do not water again until the soil is almost completely dry.

  Tip: To help avoid transplant shock, keep your plant out of full sun for a few days in a warm area. Gradually bring it back into full light and add a transplant fertilizer to its water to help the roots begin growing again. As always, be sure to follow your plant’s specific care instructions first.

  A beautifully potted plant lasts much longer and is often much more cost-effective than a bouquet, making it the perfect choice for a thoughtful homemade gift or for your own home décor for years to come.