What do I fill my large planter with?

Question

I just bought a large clay planter to plant flowers. I don't want to have to fill the whole thing with potting soil. What else can I use at the bottom and then top it off with potting soil?

Answer 1

well if i were you i would use pea gravel, not only gives the pot a little weight but helps with drainage, just remember if you use clay pots you will want to water your plants more often, especially if you live in a hot area.

Answer 2

How about upending a smaller pot in the bottom of the large pot and filling with soil around it?

If you use something like a brick it will be heavy.  I have used scrap pieces of rigid styrofoam insulation -- it doesn't really crush.  Make sure you have enought depth of soil in the pot to grow good flowers.

Answer 3

The easiest thing to do is to turn a cheap plastic flowerpot (like the ones the plants you buy come in) upside-down in the pot and dump the soil on top.  They also make flower pot inserts that you can find at your local garden center but I don't think you need to spend that money.  

If your pot is really really big you can also use hardwood charcoal in the bottom.  I have this giant purple square pot that I had the same trouble with and I ended up using plastic 2 liter Pepsi bottles and hardwood charcoal.  It worked very nicely.

Below you'll find the link to my blog and another link to the post with my huge purple pot.  

Good luck!

Answer 4

If you are looking to lighten the load, use those styrofoam

peanuts on the bottom, then use potting soil for the top half.

You can also use broken clay pots, if you have any, though

it will still be heavy afterward. Just be sure to use enough

potting soil so that the roots of the plants are able to grow

in the soil. I have also used the styrofoam blocks broken

up along the bottom. Good luck.