Planters for Around a Tree

Brick Planters

• Brick planters around trees lend a look of formality to the landscape, adding a hard balance to the soft features. This type of planter consists of two brick rings filled in with soil; you lay the bricks with mortar to create the structure. Start the inner ring a few feet from the tree trunk and make the planter as wide as you please. Dig a trench for each of the brick rings slightly wider than the width of the bricks and about 6 inches deep. Fill the trench with concrete to create a stable footer for the bricks so they won't sink into the soil. Once the concrete is dry, lay the bricks directly on top of the footer and add mortar to bind the bricks to the footer. Fill in the planter with a few inches of gravel if you have poor soil drainage or to fill in deep planters so less fill soil is needed.

Landscape Timbers

• Choose landscape timbers for the planter box if you desire a look that blends more naturally with the landscape features. Landscape timbers might be large 4-by-4-inch beams or smaller 2-by-3-inch beams, depending on your own preference. Create the planter box with a square inside of a square or make a single square and plant a new tree inside. The interior square should be wide enough to accommodate the trunk as it grows; if planting the tree in the planter, ensure the entire box is deep and wide enough for the trunk and that there is room for the roots to branch out. Drive 12-inch nails into each corner where the timbers meet to hold the planter together; steel reinforcing bar on the inside of the structure further supports the structure. Use pressure-treated wood so the lumber lasts through weather conditions and line the planter with plastic to keep the soil from rotting the wood.

Box Planter

• An alternative wood planter design is a raised box planter which, as the name implies, elevates the plants off the ground. The planter is basically a cube with a square cutout to accommodate the tree trunk and must be built in place around the tree. Unlike a landscape timber planter, the box planter has a bottom to raise it off the ground, leaving a space between the grass and the bottom of the planter. Consider the average growth size of the tree species in relationship to its age at construction so you can provide adequate room for the trunk to grow. You can build the planter out of any type of pressure-treated wood, using 2-by-4-inch boards for the frame and 1-by-4-inch boards to cover the outside of the box. Line the box with plastic to protect the wood, drill a few holes in the bottom of the box and through the plastic, and then add a couple inches of gravel to the bottom for drainage.

Trunk Planters

• Planters are available that wrap around the tree trunk, allowing you to grow flowers high up off the ground. You can find these planters to fit any size tree; you simply need to measure the circumference of the trunk and divide it by pi, 3.14, to find the diameter of the tree. The planters are actually two half circles that fit together to wrap around the tree trunk. Instead of purchasing this type of planter, you could build your own. A planter with cleats for gripping the trunk or with a tapered bottom can wrap around the trunk without sliding out of place.