Privacy & Screening Planters

A screening planter is a planter you line up. Placed in a run, tall rectangular planters make a green wall that divides a terrace, hides a boundary or gives a seating area some privacy, without the permanence or the planning constraints of a built structure. This collection holds the 14 planters we carry that work in a run: rectangular, at least 24 inches tall, and at least 36 inches long.

Why the dimensions matter more here than anywhere else

For most planters, size is about the plant. For a screen it is about the wall you are building.

Length decides how many you need. A 6 foot planter covers twice the run of a 3 foot one, and the joints between planters are the weak point in any screen, so fewer and longer is usually better. Our longest is 100 inches.

Height decides what the planter screens before the planting does. A 24 inch planter puts the soil line at knee height, so the plant does all the work. A 42 inch planter starts the screen at waist height, which means shorter planting and a faster result.

Width decides stability. A narrow planter with a tall hedge in it is a sail. The 10 to 12 inch narrow models suit tight walkways but need more thought about wind and ballast than the 24 inch deep ones.

We publish all three for every size, along with the interior opening and the nursery grow pot each accepts.

What a planter screen does not do

This is the section worth reading before ordering, because a planter screen is a compromise and the compromises are predictable.

It is not instant, and it is not solid. You are buying the vessel; the screen is the planting. Until the plants knit together you have a row of planters with gaps. Bamboo, columnar evergreens and tall grasses close that gap fastest, but none of them do it on delivery day.

It is not a fence, and it does not stop sound. A planted screen filters sightlines and softens noise. It does not block either the way a solid barrier does, and it will not satisfy a requirement for a boundary treatment.

Wind is the real constraint. A tall planter with a dense hedge presents a large sail area on a narrow base. On exposed terraces and roofs, plan for ballast in the base, choose the wider models over the narrow ones, and group planters so they support each other. On any elevated installation, settle the load and wind questions with the building's engineer before choosing the planter. Our rooftop planter weight guide covers the arithmetic.

Maintenance is continuous. A screen only screens if the planting stays dense, which means irrigation, feeding and clipping on a schedule. A row of planters is a longer maintenance commitment than the same plants in the ground, because the soil volume is finite and dries faster.

Choosing between the models

The narrow models at 10 to 12 inches deep suit walkways, balconies and anywhere floor space is tight. They hold less soil, so they dry faster and need more attention, and they benefit most from ballast.

The deeper models at 17 to 24 inches hold considerably more soil, which means a more stable base, better drought tolerance and room for larger root balls. They are the better choice for a permanent screen and for anything windy.

Heights run from 24 inches to 42 inches. If the screen has to work from a seated position, 24 to 32 inches plus planting is usually enough. If it has to work standing, start at 32 inches and choose the planting for the rest.

Drainage, delivery and finish

Drainage matters more in a run than in a single planter, because one blocked planter in a line of six is the one that fails and breaks the screen. We drill drainage free of charge on request. It is not drilled by default, since interior and liner-based installations often need the planter sealed. Drilled planters are final sale.

All of these are fiberglass composite in one of twenty finishes. The colour runs through the shell rather than sitting on it, the material is frost-proof and UV-stable, and outdoors, kept well drained, expect ten to fifteen years or more. Jay Scotts covers them with a three year manufacturer warranty. Ordering a run in one production batch matters here: a set bought together arrives in one finish batch rather than assembled from stock of different ages.

These are made to order, so allow two to ten business days of production. Standard sizes ship free by ground within the contiguous United States; larger units ship by freight at a flat 495 dollars, free on orders over 2,000 dollars, which a multi-unit screen usually clears. Each product page states which mode applies to each size.

Related collections

If you want height as a single statement rather than a continuous run, the tall outdoor planters collection covers the full range of tall pieces including round and tapered forms that do not line up into a screen.