When it comes to ensuring your plants thrive, it’s important to provide them with the best start. Adding clever drainage to your planters will help keep them healthy and live longer. In this handy guide, we share tips on what to put in the bottom of a planter for drainage.
What type of planters are best?
If you are shopping for new outside planters, always look for those that already have drainage holes. Drainage holes allow excess water to drain away and so prevents the roots of your plants from rotting. But, if your favourite planter designs don’t come with drainage holes, you can always drill their base several times with a masonry drill bit yourself.
There’s thousands of attractive and practical planters available to choose from, whether you have a traditional or a more contemporary outside space. Plus, with so many different planter materials available, from wood to zinc and from stone to Poly-Terrazzo, you really are spoiled for choice.
NB Always remember to consider the size and growing potential of your favourite plants to be potted before you purchase.
What do you line the bottom of a planter with?
One of the best things to put at the bottom of a planter for drainage is broken pieces of pot. You can use any unwanted plant pots or chipped crockery for this – simply smash them up into small to medium-sized pieces. Adding a layer of broken pieces of pot like this will prevent compost loss out of the drainage holes. It will also stop the drainage holes from becoming blocked.
If you have small planters to fill, try lining their bases with old newspaper instead. The newspaper will allow excess water to drain freely away through the drainage holes, but prevent the compost from being flushed out.For outdoor planters that will be kept outside throughout the year, it’s worth lining them with a plastic liner. Pond liners work well for lining the bottom of a planter. Simply push the liner into the base of the planter and cut drainage holes in the bottom using household or gardening scissors.Handheld gardening tools in a pinch. Fill your planter with compost and then trim away any excess liner from the top.
What can I add to potting soil to make it drain better?
There are several things you can do to help improve your potting soil. Soil amendments such as perlite, mulch and sand will all help to prevent your potting compost and fertiliser from becoming too compacted inside your planters.
Coco Coir is a great option for adding extra drainage to your soil mix. Peat free and made from coconut husks, this environmentally friendly compost contains perlite and volcanic glass which will help make your soil much more porous. Perfect for improving their drainage and for keeping your plants happy.
Nicola Clements has been working with brands and publications in the gardening and lifestyle sectors for many years. As well as regularly writing for The English Garden‘s website, Nicola is also a contributing gardening editor to Wildflower magazine. In her spare time, Nicola can be found pottering in her garden, where she hones her skills, ready to pass on her expert advice to amateur and seasoned gardeners.
One of the best things to put at the bottom of a planter for drainage is broken pieces of pot. You can use any unwanted plant pots or chipped crockery for this – simply smash them up into small to medium-sized pieces. Adding a layer of broken pieces of pot like this will prevent compost loss out of the drainage holes.
One of the best things to put at the bottom of a planter for drainage is broken pieces of pot. You can use any unwanted plant pots or chipped crockery for this – simply smash them up into small to medium-sized pieces. Adding a layer of broken pieces of pot like this will prevent compost loss out of the drainage holes.
You can also boost a potted plant's airflow and water drainage by adding different materials and aggregates to the potting soil. Materials like perlite, coarse sand, clay aggregates, vermiculite, and compost can all improve the structure of your plants' soil and prevent them from becoming too impacted.
In general, it's not necessary to put rocks in the bottom of your planter to prevent root rot. If your pot doesn't feature a drainage hole, you can drill one or use the two-pot method.
If you're planting in large containers, you can use a layer of plastic bottles at the bottom to help fill them up. The bottles should be empty, but not crushed, and have the caps on them. You can use water bottles or half-gallon jugs.
However, because landfills are overfilled with non-biodegradable products, many Styrofoam packing products are now made to dissolve in time. It is not recommended to use Styrofoam peanuts for potted plants now, because they may break down in water and soil, leaving you with sunken-in containers.
Instead of throwing it in the trash, an easy way to repurpose spare cardboard is to line them on the bottom of your raised garden beds. One frequently asked question is whether you can put cardboard in your raised beds. The answer is yes.
I know they look like garbage cans at the moment, but for the bigger pots, I add big chunks of Styrofoam and/or empty plastic bottles (with the lids on) so I don't have to use so much soil. The plants grow just fine in several inches of soil–they don't need two feet of it.
We love the guys at Soil Ninja for great potting mixes. Create a Drainage Layer: Add a layer of coarse material at the bottom of the pot, such as gravel or broken pieces of terracotta pots. This layer helps prevent water from saturating the soil and promotes better drainage.
A key practice for improving soil drainage is incorporating organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure. Organic matter improves soil structure by increasing soil aggregation which allows for more and varied pore sizes. Soil aggregates are groups of mineral particles that bind together.
If you are worried about your soil falling out of the drainage holes, you can place a paper towel or newspaper at the bottom, which will still allow water drain but prevent any soil from falling out and making a mess. We don't recommend putting pottery shards or rocks at the bottom.
Plastic water bottles, milk jugs, sour cream, yogurt containers, and soda bottles with lids (you don't want the water to get in the bottles and stagnate). Avoid bleach, ammonia, and other plastic containers that held harmful chemicals. Also, plastic plant pots (with holes) turned upside down are great fillers.
“If your planter doesn't have holes, you can keep the plant in its grow or nursery pot and place it inside the planter you would like to use,” he says. You can also place gravel or pebbles in the bottom of the decorative pot and place the functional pot with drainage on top of that layer.
The answer is yes. You can line the bottom of your raised garden bed with cardboard and newspaper to block out weeds or act as a barrier against rhizomatous, weedy or invasive plants.
Introduction: My name is Twana Towne Ret, I am a famous, talented, joyous, perfect, powerful, inquisitive, lovely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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