ideas for planter

I recently built this planter. Not lovely but it's my first project. Assuming that it will hold 12" of soil, I will put it between two oak trees in my front yard. It will get partial/filtered sun (rain). I have ice plants, 4 o'clocks, cuphea, kalanchoes, seeds for columbine, love in a mist, cosmos, and canterbury bells to name a few. Any ideas for what to put in it? I can use what I have on hand or get something else. It's 4' long and 18" across. I'd like it to be butterfly/hummer friendly so that my dad can sit on the porch and watch the action. lol

AuntAnne,
That's a great looking piece of work! Congrats! Mr. Paul James (HGTV "Gardening by the Yard") had a very similar one on his broadcast just this Saturday. Might I suggest the addition of some simple wooden slats across the bottom? They'll serve to brace the entire frame, and can also be used as a shelf for supplies/additional small pots. Here's the link to the GBTY broadcast.

I do so want to build stuff. My DH (of 2 yrs. this November) has enough power tools in the garage to build an entire house. But he's "old school," and won't show me how to use them. I'm considering taking a "shop" class with the local Leisure Learning folks. I bought a wonderful 4-volume set of basic building projects for the garden, but he won't let me near his "stuff."

Good for you, girlfriend!

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_equipment_new_products/article/0,1785,HGTV_3583_4836439,00.html

The plant that attracts the most butterflies in my garden, other than shrubs that would be too big for your planter, are salvias. I have a large planting of Indigo Spires with Bat Face Cupheas in front of them. This is in front of a large arched window by the dining table where we can watch the butterflies and hummers from inside. The butterflies swarm this area constantly and the hummers are there pretty often too. Your cupheas should do well there. I've never seen any butterflies at my kalanchoes or ice plant, for what that's worth. Let us see what you wind up with.

Oh, and I think your planter looks really nice. For a first attempt, I think it looks absolutely wonderful!

Thank y'all. Actually I do have 3 braces across the bottom. I'm hoping that will be enough. I just put in a layer of sphagnum moss to help hold in the soil. When son gets here (today I hope) we will move it out and put in the soil. Hopefully it will work. I saw a planter in another forum and felt that I could do it. I have no experience. I prob. should have started with something smaller but oh well. BF put the mesh in for me and sister gave input as to sizes and screw types. The mesh is reinforced under the side slats and stapled underneath and inside in places. I think it's going to hold well. I will keep you guys informed.

AuntAnne,
Good looking first project. I have to second Gymgirl's suggestion to put wooden slats on the bottom of the planter. The slats will support the soil you put in the planter and help stabilize the planter. Wet soil will be quite heavy, too heavy for just the mesh and staples. I have built a few smaller planters and bought a few of the elongated planters. All the elongated planters I have seen have wood slats on the bottom, placed lengthwise and cross braced. Instructions for planters all call for a wooden slat bottom.

The other down side of having mesh on the bottom is that the soil will dry from both the bottom and the top in effect reducing the area into which the roots can grow. You will have to water more often.

Gymgirl, my DH wouldn't let me use his tools either so I bought a few for myself or asked for them for my birthday or Christmas. It didn't take long for him to figure out that I was serious about woodworking, that having duplicates was wasteful and to decide to let me use his tools. Try it!

Actually I do have 3 braces across the bottom. I'm hoping that will be enough. I just put in a layer of sphagnum moss to help hold in the soil.

If the 3 braces aren't enough I can always put more. And if all else fails I can do what someone on another forum suggested and that is to put boards with holes in them. Perhaps for my second one I will. I already have some of the wood for the next one.

Beautiful, Aunt Anne! You did that yourself? That's superb craftsmanship.

I think you'll need a little more support than the three braces on the bottom otherwise you may lose moisture and soil through the moss. Think of it as one of those great big moss hanging baskets that you end up having to water three times a day to keep your plants alive. Regardless, it's a stunning piece of work!

Your options for flowers are huge! Perennials might be hard because of their root systems but there are small ones for the hummers and BF's. Milkweed, herbs (standard old parsley, fennel, dill and rue), you could try porterweed in the center, as a focal point for the hummers, cupheas can get rather large and a pretty big root system, cosmos would be great, dwarf plumbago, balsam, 4 o'clocks might take over but they'd be beautiful if you don't mind that. Maybe dwarf orange jasmine? I'll look at my bf/hummer list and see if I can come up with more suggestions. Oh, maybe dutchman's pipevine trailing out of a corner or two? That would be pretty planted with some lobelia next to it this fall.

That's a beautiful planter......good job!!!!!

Yes I agree lobelia would look good. What about trailing fuchsia? I was also thinking about some English Ivy for hanging out also. I like the suggestion of Salvia also. The Cosmos that I have are about 3 ft. tall, that might be a bit too tall, though I don't know.

Anything tall would look fabulous in the center. Work from the center out, tallest in the middle, a shrubbier layer to surround that (maybe 3-4 different plants), a smaller layer of several varieties around that and trailers for the corners and here and there around the edges. I was throwing out suggestions for the BF's with the pipevine but if you're not a stickler for those plants then your options open up so much more. Ivy is always pretty and good for shade (it's going between the oaks, right?). Porterweed would be great for the center since it's a fairly shaded area and would be a great hummer attractor (and I happen to have extra cuttings if you need them....they're doing great!). Surround the porterweed with cosmos or purple cone flowers or jacobinia's maybe (or a mix of all three)? Or even nearly wild roses. Blue daze around that. Sweet allysum around that and trailers on the edges? I wouldn't plant the allysum or lobelia until late August/early September but you would have time to get everything else established.

Actually I do have some dutchman's pipe seeds. Again my cosmos get about 3 feet tall how tall does the porterweed get?

The porterweed gets pretty tall. Depending on it's environment. If you squish it between other plants it will grow really tall, say 4-5'? If it's not squished, it gets lanky. How's that for a professional explanation? LOL. You could put 3-4 together and 'squish' them with a thick planting of other plants around them for a beautiful effect.

This year, I've started to throw cosmos seeds in the back of my beds (and centers for the islands). They're coming up beautifully. I don't 'plant' the seeds. I literally throw them and water. I've done 4 seed packets. Next year, I'll do 8-10 for a more dramatic effect.

Yes, I don't remember who, but another DGr sent me some orange ones and now I'm hooked. I have some crocosmia coming and am working to "flood proof" another section of my flower bed that can accomodate tall things. I have some more cosmos seeds that are orange and a mixture of some more that I got from WinterSown. So as soon as it stops raining, grrr, and as soon as I get my lawn tractor fixed, grrr grrr grrrr, I'm going to finish that and plant the crocosmia, cosmos and the almond verbena that someone down there has. I think that it will be pretty.

I've got a 'mix' in an island bed of almost everything we're talking about (except the almond verbena...I have that one coming to you at the swap). The island has crocosmias', porterweed, duranta, roses, wedelia, balsam, dutchmans' pipe, jacobinia, zinnias, shrimp plants, dahlias, cosmos, butterfly bush, milkweed, plumbagos, cosmos, daisies......quite the mix but it is getting prettier and prettier by the week as the plants fill in. It's kind of cottagy but not too much. I do prune often. BTW...I've noticed that the crocosmias REALLY like to be crowded. They just bloom better. A lot of folks don't like the crowded mix that I prefer but it works for me.

And the butterfly's! I have 10 times more than I've ever had. I can't keep enough herbs to satisfy the swallowtail caterpillars......counted 13 in the first instars this morning. There's definitely not enough food out there (in the back herb garden) for them. I don't know what to do other than continuously buy parsley at the grocer and keep them in the BF cage. I might go broke! BTW - they will eat parsley even if they started on dill, fennel or rue....just takes a day or two to coax them.

Take a look at the following for bee/hummingbird plants in part sun

guara
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/590/

coneflower
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/26/

salvia indigo spires
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54677/

shasta daisy
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/48/

ok, it's in its final home, filled and ready for planting

Beautimous!

stunning - Love the simple way it looks. What type of wood did you use for the sides?

Bravo! Bravo! Encore?

Cedar all over.

Very nice.. very very nice. I bet you could sell those at flea markets.

ha, you don't even want to know how much I paid for that. lol.

Let me put it this way, we had a little booth at Canton back a little and they had simple bird houses for 10-15 - I mean simple.. . . .. the planters I saw went for 40-80 on average. Cedar is costly but that is what make the price go up too..

I spent far more than 40 - 80. And that was just on the first trip. lol

Well worth it from the looks of it, very nice and top class in my book.

thank you *blush*

Now we are back to the first question............

"Any ideas for what to put in it?"

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

lol :~)

I have a shrimp plant that has survived from the round up. I have a small guara that I was going to put in the ground with 3 larger ones that I bought on a half price sale. Of course I haven't put those guaras in the ground, but I really like the way they look on the other side of the dwarf red cannas and to the front of the the variegated turks cap, but I digress.....where are the a.d.d. meds lol. I do have seeds but that would mean waiting. I have the cosmos seeds and the 4 o'clock seedlings. I have the dutchman's pipe vine seeds. I know that the cosmos only takes a couple of months from planting to bloom. I have a couple of cuphea that need a home. I can use the porterweed that I'll be getting in a couple of months. I need to just draw this out. My mom could just see things in her head and then draw them. She was a very talented artist. I have to see things in drawing first.

ok how about this. Dutchpipe Vine plante in opposing corners, and Ice plants in the other corners. Three guara on the left kind of semi circular planted, porterweed next (going down the middle) then a few cosmos, a shrimp plant on the right with another shrimp plant between the middle and edge on both sides. A tall salvia to the front and in between the right shrimp and one if not both of the other shrimps. A couple of 4 'clocks interspersed and English Ivy trailing in the middle, if not lantana instead. hmmmm It's late I need to go to bed. nighters