Rectangular Planters

Drawing a line rather than marking a point. Rectangles define terrace edges, separate seating from circulation, run along walls and balconies, and, at height, screen. A round planter is an object you place; a rectangle is a boundary you build. That is also why they are the usual choice for commercial and hospitality work, where planting is doing spatial work rather than decorating.

Mostly the proportions and the word. A trough is a long, comparatively shallow rectangle, the shape you would run along a wall or a balcony edge. A rectangular planter is any straight-sided box longer than it is deep. Planter box is the loosest of the three and is also used for raised garden beds and window boxes, which are different products with different construction.

The vocabulary is inconsistent across the industry and it causes real confusion when comparing suppliers, which is why the published interior opening is worth more than the name on the listing. Everything in this collection is a finished fiberglass planter rather than a raised bed.

Jay Scotts specify 1 to 2 inch holes every 12 inches of planter space, so the count grows with the length; their own example is a 60 inch planter, which needs at least 4 to 5. They drill to that standard free of charge at order time, and a drilled planter is final sale.

Their stated reasons are practical: drainage stops water accumulating, which can damage the planter and affect plant health, and it helps large planters keep their structural integrity rather than warping. Our drainage guide covers the rest.

Measure three things and keep them separate. Exterior dimensions are the overall footprint and height, and they decide whether the planter fits the space, the doorway and the lift. The interior opening is what you actually plant into, and it is always smaller because the wall has thickness. Grow pot capacity is the nursery pot the opening will accept.

We publish all three for every size. Most listings publish only the first, which is how a planter that fits the terrace turns out not to fit the plant.

Deep enough for the root ball of whatever you are planting, plus at least 3 inches of potting mix beneath it, with the top of the root ball 1 to 3 inches below the rim. The first figure is NC State Extension's guidance for containers; the second is Jay Scotts'. Check the interior height rather than the exterior, which includes the base and wall. It is published on about half the sizes here; where none is published we leave it blank rather than estimate it. Our guide to sizing a fiberglass planter works the calculation through.

Outdoors, yes, and troughs need it more than compact shapes. A trough presents a large surface area to rain relative to the soil volume beneath it, so water accumulates quickly and standing water at the base is the main cause of both root failure and winter damage.

We drill drainage free of charge on request and do not drill by default, because interior and liner-based installations often need the base intact. A drilled planter is final sale.

Turning a run through 90 degrees in the same model. Each corner unit is a square box from the same series as its rectangular siblings: the same height, and a side that matches their depth, so the straights can butt against it and the line continues around the corner in one finish. Our corner units have their own collection, corner planters.

When you want punctuation rather than line. Cubes work flanking a door, closing the end of a run, or standing alone where an elongated planter would look like it was heading somewhere. A cube reads as deliberate at any size; a short rectangle often reads as a rectangle that got cut off. Our cubes are in the square planters collection.

Divide the length of the run by the planter length and round up. If it does not come out even, mix two lengths of the same model or space the planters with equal gaps. Ours run from 24 to 100 inches long. Fewer, longer units mean fewer joints and, on our range, usually cost less for the same run, while the shorter sizes are more often the ones that ship by ground. Our guide to one long fiberglass planter or several works a 12 foot run through. If the run turns a corner, plan the corner unit before ordering the straights.

Depends on the proportions. A long planter at 10 to 12 inches deep with tall planting in it presents a large sail on a narrow base and can move. The 14 to 24 inch deep models are considerably more stable. Where exposure is real, ballast the base, prefer the deeper models, and group planters so they shelter each other.