How to Make a Stacked Pot Planter

Create a focal point for your garden with a colorful stacked pot planter. Choose containers that coordinate with the colors of your house, deck or existing flowers. Let your pots create a color splash by planting them with interesting foliage alone, like Sedum burrito or ipomoea. Make flowers the focus by using contrasting colors like blue pottery with white or yellow flowers. Soften the look with complementary colors like violet flowers and dark blue pottery.

Pots with drainage holes
Rebar
Duct tape
Square-bladed shovel
Rake
Level
Sledge hammer
Gloves
Coarse gravel
Potting soil
Plants
Trowel
Hose
Optional drip-watering system with bubblers

Instructions

Preparation
- 1
  
  Tapered pots leave planting room when stacked.
  
  Determine how high you want your pot tower. Get enough pots, either in graduated sizes or the same size, to reach your chosen height. Buy a piece of rebar that equals your pot stack height plus 24 inches. Leave enough room for planting when sizing your pots. The inside diameter at the top of a pot should be 4 to 6 inches wider than the bottom of the pot you will stack in it.
- 2
  
  Good potting soil is needed for good drainage.
  
  Buy enough potting soil to fill all the pots. For instance, using a 20-inch standard pot for the stack bottom, you'll need 28 quarts of potting soil to fill it. Get enough coarse gravel to make a 1-inch layer in the bottom of each pot for drainage.
- 3
  
  Plants should have mature sizes that fit your containers.
  
  Choose plants for the containers. Check the plants' information tags before you buy for mature sizes to be sure they won't overgrow their containers. Find out what plants are evergreen in your climate if you want year-round interest.
Building the Planter
- 4
  
  Remove grass and level your planter's spot.
  
  Pick a place in your garden for the stacked planter set. Clear and level the spot by stripping off any sod, then blading or raking the ground smooth.
- 5
  Put a piece of duct tape just above the 24-inch mark on your piece of rebar. Center the first pot on your site and drive the rebar into the ground through the drainage hole. Stop when the duct tape touches the hole.
- 6
  
  Fill each pot to within 2 inches of the lip.
  
  Put a 1-inch layer of gravel in the pot and fill it with moistened potting soil to within 2 inches of the lip. Firm up the soil as you go to make a solid base for the next pot. Stack the next pot on top of it by threading its drainage hole over the rebar. Continue to fill and stack pots till you have them all stacked.
- 7
  
  Small trowels are useful for planting stacked pots.
  
  Use a trowel to plant your chosen annuals, perennials or evergreens. Finish by watering each pot thoroughly, beginning with the top container.

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How to Make a Stacked Pot Planter

Instructions

Preparation

Building the Planter