A narrow planter is bought on one measurement and lives or dies on a second. The first is width, which decides whether it fits. The second is stability, which decides whether it stays upright once something tall is planted in it.
What makes a narrow planter narrow
Everything here is 12 inches or less across. Measure the passage at its tightest point, including door swings and handrails, then take off the clearance you want to walk past. Building codes and common sense both want a clear route; a planter that makes people turn sideways will be moved within a month.
Length varies far more than width. Camoux, Milano, Hollywood, Amesbury and Delray are rectangles that run along a wall, while Corry and Saint Tropez are narrow round columns with a footprint barely wider than their rim.
Why narrow and tall is the unstable combination
A narrow base with a tall planting is a sail on a small foot. This is the one real caution with the category. A 60 inch Saint Tropez with a slim tree in it presents a large area to the wind on a footprint you could cover with both hands.
Weight low down is the fix, not a heavier planter. Ballast in the base — not soil to the rim — lowers the center of gravity. Jay Scotts call for lightweight filler in the body of a deep planter, so put the density at the bottom and the light material above it.
A wall is your friend. In a passage or a side return a narrow planter usually has a wall within inches of it. Siting it against one removes most of the exposure that makes it a risk in the open. Our rooftop planters guide covers wind and exposure in more detail.
What narrow costs you
Less soil, so more watering. A narrow planter holds a smaller soil mass, and a smaller mass dries faster. In summer that is the difference between watering weekly and watering every couple of days.
The opening is narrower still. On several of these the interior opening is under 10 inches across, which rules out most standard nursery pots. Check the interior figure on the specifications page before you choose the planting, not after.
It is not a screen on its own. A run of narrow planters makes a line, not a wall. If screening is the point, the tall privacy planters collection is the wider-footprint selection made for it.
Drainage and finish
A narrow planter with no drainage is the fastest way to a waterlogged root ball, because there is less soil to buffer it. Jay Scotts drill drainage free of charge at order time and a drilled planter is final sale. All six come in any of the 20 standard colors or a custom match, finished to order.
