What Would Go Nicely Together in a 3 Tier Planter? And how?

[chinnie15]

Hello everyone! ^^ I'm brand new to all of this so please try to be patient with me.

I recently found this in an Aldi store



and have been considering giving gardening a try for a while now, so I figure before committing to flower beds, to give container gardening a try first. So, needless to say, I bought it. But now I don't know what to do with it. Alright, that's a little bit of an exaggeration. I have done some research so far and went to a nursery today to do some learning/exploring, and I have a fairly good idea now of what I want to do. But I do have some questions.

1) In so many pictures of container gardens, I see so many nice, close together, beautiful arrangements. But on every plant I look at, they say anywhere between 4"-12" of spacing between them necessary. In my mind, that creates one heck of a sparse looking container? Is this 'law'? Or can it be broken? Because most pictures I see look like the plants are positioned a lot closer than 6" (the average spacing requirement I've seen)...

2) I'm also wondering what plants might do well together? I have, so far, gotten a great interest in petunias, marigolds, geraniums, and pansies. I was thinking to pick out 3 species, and have each tier for a specific species, but I was also wondering what might go well with them?

3) As for actually planting them, can I just go ahead and do it whenever I get home with them? I don't yet have the potting mix in the tiers (but that is one thing that I have gotten so far), so would it be okay to just put in the mix right before putting in the plants? Or is there a process that I don't know about? lol.

Oh, and the lighting conditions of where I'd like to place it is mostly sun, but not full sun (not for the whole day, anyway. A good part, though, is full sun). I believe the plants I've picked are good for those conditions, but if I'm incorrect, please enlighten me. I think that's everything... if I think of anything else I'll let you guys know. Thank you so much for any help!

[imafan26]

I made a tiered planter by stacking different sizes of terra cotta pots.

The first challenge will be siting. If you are going to plant all around the planter, the sun has to hit it from all sides. If it is up against a wall, don't bother to plant the back side of it.

The plants at the top will dry out faster than the bottom so plant the driest plants on top.

If you want cascading plants you need to consider the distance between each tier. The cascading plants may interfere with the light in the level below. so make sure your plants do not cascade down too much.

I put soakers in the container to make it easier to water.

Tallest, dryest plant on top in full sun

middle level you need a plant that will only go up about half the height of the tier so that you can still see a separation in the levels. If it cascades, you may have to trim it so it does not interfere with the lower level

The lowest level will have the most water.

You can use different plants with complementary or similar colors or the same plant in all tiers.

Don't put too many plants in each tier as the plants will probably spread as they grow.

Most of the planters in pictures are planted closely just before the picture is taken and have not been growing in the planters for any length of time so they are not filled out

Strawberries did well in a tiered planter. You can plant all of the tiers with strawberries.

succulents do well and some of them will grow slowly so they will not get overgrown so quickly

You could do annuals

Pansies and violas on the bottom level

Alyssum in the middle will cascade down and can be trimmed. It can be interplanted with something else. like wax begonias. They can be pinched to keep the height down.

On top I would put an iris or some other spikey plant, and surrounded by saxatile alyssum.

If this planter is in a shadier spot you may need to choose plants for their shape and texture
like ferns.
Boston or maidenhair fern on top
Begonia, impatiens, or African violets in the middle with creeping jenny interplanted and cacading down. Needs good light
Lower level. African violets, oxalis, or impatiens.

Tiered planters work better with larger planters. It is actually hard to find plants that will stay small in a small planter.

[chinnie15]

Thank you so much! Lots of awesome advice! I'll remember all of this and see what I can find tomorrow at the nursery. How about petunias? I really, really loved the variety in the petunias that they had.

[imafan26]

Petunias will work, they will cascade down. It is o.k. if your planter will be in the sun. I haven't grown petunias in the shade.

The wave petunias may do well in the planters. the flowers are smaller than the grandifloras but they are more compact.

[applestar]

Does this planter have drainage holes?
In the photo you posted, it looks like either cut flowers or small pots of plants were placed inside.

[rainbowgardener]

Re the spacing issue, remember your plants are going to GROW. So you have to space them at first to leave them room to grow. So yes it will look a little sparse at first with bare dirt showing, but as they grow, they will fill in and give your planter that full look. The pictures you see are not when it is first planted, but when it is at its peak.

Most of the rest is just style and everyone has their own style and taste. Personally, I would find it more interesting to mix things up rather than just plant each tier in a separate species. But especially if you are going to mix things, then you will need to keep a color theme to unify it (as in a main color and a little bit of accents). If you are planting all the same plant, then you can mix the colors.

re: petunias, marigolds, geraniums, and pansies. All of those except the pansies are pretty adaptable to full or part sun. The pansies will burn up in full sun. They tend not to thrive through the heat of summer, anyway. I plant pansies very early, in late winter, as they are frost tolerant. By summer they have usually disappeared, except maybe the ones in the shadiest spots, especially if we have had plenty of rain. Sometimes I plant them again (new plants) in the fall. If we have a mild winter (NOT like this past one), they may overwinter.