You can find many types of planters for growing plants. Which one should you choose? Well, it al depends what you want. For example, not all materials are suitable for using outdoors. That’s why it is important to carefully choose the appropriate type of planter for your plants, the location it will live in and the materials it is made of.
What are the other considerations you have to make choosing a planter?
When you are looking for planters, in or around your house, you want them to be decorative and give you the natural atmosphere you want in your garden. If you, for example, want a planter for your garden it must brighten up your garden and maybe give it a traditional appearance. But in the end you follow your personal preferences and choose whatever you find most attractive for your own garden.
Where can they be used?
Planters can be used on your patio, balcony, garden or hanging beneath your window. However, not all planters are appropriate in every location.
In home or outdoor?
The first thing you have to do is choosing if you will be using you planter in home or outdoors. The main reason is that most of the materials you can use in home can’t be used outdoors because of the constantly exposure to sunlight, rain, heat, and cold. For example, fiberglass planters and foam planters aren’t built well enough to withstand the harsh weather conditions outside but urn planters are ideal for indoor and outdoor purposes.
What kind of weather
If you choose to use a planter outdoors you must know the weather conditions of the area where you plan to place your planter. It is extremely important to know which elements the planter and the plants will be exposed to. These elements will determine which type of planter you will select, the soil you will be using in your planter and the plants you want to grow.
The material of the planter
If you want an outdoor planter and you want to move it around your garden choose a lightweight planter. Lightweight planters are for example plastic planters, the advantage is that they are reasonable cheep but the disadvantages are that they are not very durable and that they are not allowing water to evaporate quickly. Another lightweight planter is the fiberglass planter. The disadvantage of fiberglass planters is that it is an expensive solution. The advantages are, however, that they have positive insulation properties and that they are long lasting. A wooden planter gives a great atmosphere and brightens up your garden and is not expensive but the disadvantage is that wood must be painted and will eventually rot over time. When you have a small wooden planter you can even move it around your garden. A clay planter is perfect to move around your garden or patio but has the disadvantage that clay is “breathing” resulting in that the soil will dry out more quickly. Using a cement planter provides the best protection against all different weather conditions but is heavy and can’t be moved around your garden.
If you want to know more about the types of planters that you can use, check the next Type of planters article.