I bought some pretty urns that I drilled holes in the bottom of, problem is that the bottom is flat so the holes will be blocked by the ground. What can I use as "pot feet"?
I'm not very into those whimsical pot shoes, frogs and other designs. I'd actually prefer that that don't resemble feet or shoes at all, merely just something to raise them off the ground. I don't wanna spend a lot on them too, any ideas?
Pot Feet
There are some plastic dealies called Down Unders, I think. They are crosses, have small pyramidal projections down and a hole in the middle. You can make them any size you want by taking off the little pyramids. They sell for about five bucks. They are almost indestructible and keep you pots off the concrete or wood, thus lessening the staining and rotting of wood decks. I use them on anything larger than a one gallon. http://www.theplantstandco.com/ shows what they look like.
I steal some of my sons Lego Blocks..... or Duplo Blocks (the bigger Lego's) The Legos are small, but VERY sturdy :)
Janis
My grandchildren love their duplos, I don't think they would part with them. But it is an excellent idea. The downunders work very well. My goal is to have all the pots on them. Still a ways to go. At five bucks a pop it takes a while.
5 bucks is too much. I've decided that I spend way too much on my little old gardening hobby. Any bucks I can save will go towards the purchase of special plants.
Legos sound the cheapest, great idea!
If your pot is resting on "the ground' as in on soil, it has no effect on drainage. Neither is there any negative effect if the container is resting on any surface where water can move away from the container after draining (e.g. off a deck railing, through cracks in deck, into soil, on a slope, etc). If you see puddling around the bottom of the container, it may have an effect on drainage, but it depends on a combination of the thickness of container walls and the existence of a continuous path for upward movement of water by capillarity (the container's soil must actually contact the puddling water or be able to move it back upward via capillarity after it drains).
Al
I cut peices of 2x2 or 1x2 scrap wood and place under the pots. Keeps the slugs out as well.
Those were a lot of big words so late at night! Which was when I read it.
Another reason, which riceke has brought up, is keeping bugs out. Centapeeds like getting under my pots.
Depending on how big the pots are, I use bricks. (Lots were left
at my property by previous owner.)
And there are simple cheap pot "feet" that are not cute frogs,
cats or what have you. (But bricks or wood scraps will probably
be cheaper).
Tam
I use tiny terra cotta saucers turned upside down. 3 of them spaced evenly under a big pot work great. And they can't be seen.
I will stick with the Down Unders, expensive as they may be. Work well, last forever, not visible under any pot larger than 2 gallons. I get some every so often and I am slowly getting them under all the pots. They keep the deck and concrete from staining
CaptMicha,
I've been buying inexpensive trivits at Target and using them! They run between $1.99 and $4.99, and unless you have a very small pot, you'll never see the thing again. It only raises the pot about 1/2 inch of the ground, but you don't need much more than that to guarantee air flow, and avoid the staining that follows.
Lori
I love glass blocks, you know the ones they made walls out of in the 50s? Over the years I've collected many shapes and sizes and use them to raise my pots. I like the effect of having the pots at different levels too. I know you can buy them new but I think they're kinda expensive (maybe $3.99 each?). Mine are all from flea markets and thrift stores. I particularly like the "corner" ones. Four make a circle.
Little ceramic tiles like you get at Home Depot or Lowes are great...and cheap. You can buy one at a time or a whole box full. Some are very inexpensive....if you have a way to cut them, a 4" tile could make 4 feet too...although, you can get individual 1" tiles for almost nothing.
They may even have a Broken Bin...that's _really_ cheap.
This message was edited Sep 5, 2005 7:12 PM
I did mine the easy way. Had a leftover piece of treated 2x4 so I cut 1" slices off. got (21) 2x1.5x3.5 inch pot feet out af a 2 foot 2x4. Enought for 7 pots. I've always used 3 for better balance.
stella your succulents look fantastic draping over the glass blocks. Great idea!
:) Donna
Whoo-Hooo ! Thanks for da idear Stella.
I love anything glass ;-)
Thanks you guys, I love passing a great idea along. Now I'd just like to figure out exactly how TomTom made those papercrete containers. Those look fantastic and I know they're probably easy, I'm just a little afraid to try it I guess. Her instructions are just vague enough to make me insecure. If you haven't seen them go to the posts she has made and look for "how to make papercrete containers" or some such thing. Maybe one of you can give me a clearer idea of what she's actually doing there.
Did we get a link for that stella?
Oh! Do you know what would be so pretty? You know those 1 ft tiles they use for bathrooms? Take five of them and glue them together, then drill a hole in the bottom. I bet I could have some very pretty pots.
You could even paint them or decorate the sides with things.
Copyright CaptMicha, lol.
Sorry I got sidetracked looking at all Tomtom's wonderful container gardens and forgot to post the link. Tomtom, in case you didn't know this, your my hero (or I should say heroine). If you haven't seen them go to her memberpage and look at the posts she's made. Here ya go..... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/472203/
And here's one that she wasn't the first poster on so it won't show up under threads she has started. But just look at some of these! You'll notice if you go through some of the threads that I'm not her only fan in this club. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/513290/
Just got my new issue of "Garden Gate" today and saw a great idea. Use the tiny clay pots (the ones that are about 2") to keep your pots off the ground. They are very inexpensive and really looked cute in the magazine.
I picked these up at the Dollar Store yesterday, where all the party supplies are. I don't know what made me think of this thread, but I thought that these little plastic shooter glasses would work well for pot feet. They are really strong and I'm sure won't mark the deck....and at 40 for $1, I thought the price was right. However, rather than pot feet, I prefer to call them glass slippers ;- ))
Sandy
Plastic twist off bottle caps make small, sturdy and free pot feet.Placing them open side down will minimize the staining and rotting of wood decks.
I love inguinuity, thanks kattamos, I'll use that one.
Spray can lids work as well. Give you a higher space.