As a natural material, timber blends very well into the landscape and robustly made wooden planters can be both decorative and practical additions to the garden. They are available in various styles from simple containers to more substantial and ornamental designs.
If you're looking to buy a wooden planter, browse our range online here, or continue reading our guide for help and advice on the differences between available styles, types and the advantages of using them within the garden.
Square Planters
Probably the most popular style choice for a garden planter, and with a great selection to choose from, our elegant square planters boast profiled sides and sturdy posts at each corner. Others forgo the posts and have interlocking timbers or half logs for a chunkier look in various sizes. Individual squared planters, offer a deep design giving plenty of room for root development, whether you plan on growing your favourite flowers, herbs or even a small selection of grow your own produce.
The advantage of square planters is that they can be placed just about anywhere, fitting perfectly flush against a wall or fence panel. This means that you could pair two up, one either side of a door way, such as the entrance to your home, or have a row along a path or driveway.
Troughs and Wishing Wells
Troughs are many and various, four square or based on traditional animal feeders with cross legs to provide a secure footing. These are quite mobile and will make for a striking display of colour in any location whether in full sun or in a position that needs brightening up. Deep troughs can be planted with vegetables and all are particularly useful if you physically have trouble bending too far,
Wishing wells are more of a ornamental planter. The Norlog wishing well planter is one of favourites at GardenSite, that uses interlocking logs and a wooden six-sided roof to re-create a covered well with plants as the central feature and edging seats. Not only does it offer a practical planter, but also can be used as the main focal point in the garden, due to it's ample size and traditional design.
Plant Ladders
Plant ladders offer practical planting with a fun twist that's great to get the kids involved in growing plants from seed. Being positioned just outside the back door allowing for easy access to any herbs that you decide to plant inside it, or simply to decorate with lovely smelling, vivid flowers. So whether it's to enhance your cooking by providing freshly grown herbs right on your doorstep, to get the kids outside in the fresh air learning about growing, or to decorate with plants to add colour and greenery to an outside area, plant ladders offer plenty of opportunity to grow, whatever your intended use.
Herb Wheels
Herb wheels are exactly as you'd expect from the name, a wheel-style planter that's designed specially for growing and cultivating herbs right in your own garden. No longer will you need to buy herbs from the shop, when you can prune your own free and fresh throughout the year.
The sectioned Norlog herb wheel is practical as well as ornamental. The eye-catching geometric design looks extremely smart and functional, with the different beds clearly delineated to keep in check any invasive herbs such as mint. The wheel is sure to become a useful and impressive display of kitchen herbs as well as an eye-catching garden feature.
Patio Planters
The standard in wooden planters, but not only suited for the patio, patio planters are generic garden planters that can be used just about anywhere and are designed to look neat, tidy and stylish. Ready to plant with your favourite flowering plants, they can add colour and variety to the garden in a contained space.
Whether you're looking to spruce up a slabbed patio area, a decking area, or to welcome guests and visitors at the front of your home, they offer so much visual delight for such a simple thing. Planter sets make them even more budget friendly, dramatically reducing the cost per planter when purchasing them as a pre-defined set.
5 Most Asked Questions About Wooden Planters
Do Wooden Planters Rot?
All wooden planters that we sell on GardenSite should last for many years with very little maintenance. The majority come pressure treated with a preservative, that's forced deep inside the wood grains, protecting it for many years against wood rot, decay and weathering. Pressure treated garden planters do need need retreating, painting, or staining in the future (unless you wish to change the colour scheme) so are the best ones to buy in terms of low maintenance and long life.
Alternatively, a few planters may be dip treated or hand-treated, having a solution of preservative applied to the outside of the wood, protecting it for approximately the first year of its life. Thereafter, it is recommended to apply a new coating of preservative every 12-months.
Do Wooden Planters Need Drainage?
In short, the answer is yes! However, in most cases, you won't need to manually create any drainage holes yourself. This is because the softwood (such as pine) used in the majority of our planters is naturally porous, and so can allow excess water to seep through. Additionally, the base or bottom of your wooden planters (if it comes with one) won't normally be one solid, whole piece of wood, but smaller sections of slats fixed together. These slats would have very minor gaps between each one, allowing excess water to pass through and drip out underneath it. This would provide enough drainage by itself without the need for creating any specific drainage holes in your planter.
Do Wooden Planters Need To Be Lined?
No, a good quality wooden planter that has been pressure treated does not need to be lined with a liner, and the majority of models are designed to be filled with compost straight away.
However, this doesn't mean to say that you can't not line your new planters if you wish to. We wouldn't recommend a plastic or PVC liner, as this can cause too much water build up inside the planter during heavy rain, whilst in the summer the opposite, as a black plastic liner can absorb the sun's heat, causing the compost to dry out quicker, meaning that your plants could become underwatered. However, a porous cloth weed fabric could be used to line the planter, or at least to cover the bottom base section, as this will help to reduce the amount of compost that leaks out the base when being watered, through any spaces between the wooden slats, meaning less debris to sweep up on the patio.
What Type Compost Should I Use In A Wooden Planter?
Make sure that the compost fits the plant's requirements as far as pH is concerned.
In most cases, general all-purpose compost is suited for most plants and flowers, however for acid-loving plants (Japanese Maples, Heathers and Camellias), you will need to use an ericaceous compost. If you're buying new plants from the garden centre, keep the little tag that usually comes stuck into the soil, as this will normally give you information on the best growing conditions.
Do I Need To Feed Plants That Are In A Wooden Planter?
Yes! For most plants in wooden planters, being as they are unable to develop their roots further into the ground due to being restricted to the planter, nutrients can easily be lost or used up. They must be replaced with a slow-release fertiliser or by feeding every during in the main flowering season. In addition, you can cover the top of the soil within the planter with a layer of gravel, decorative stones or bark to avoid excessive evaporation by the sun. Bark is always a preferred choice, as the bark will naturally break down and decay, leaching natural nutrients back into the compost.
