Planters

How to Find the Perfect Vintage Planter

As suburban yards have shrunk and urban residences with outdoor spaces have up-ticked, planters, simple to pop on a balcony or terrace, have thrived. While sprawling backyards require tireless weed-pulling, pruning, and propagating, the option to outfit plants in large ceramic planters—everything from cement planters to urns bought on the cheap—allow anyone to certify themselves a garden guru.

Perusing the planters at your local nursery, however, is liable to incite a premature freeze—which is to say nothing of vintage planters, with their myriad of designer names like Haeger, Roseville, and California Pottery. Options abound and it’s not always evident which planter crosses aesthetics and functionality best.

In-the-know gardeners will likely direct you to examine a few key characteristics, including the planter’s material, size, and drainage capabilities. Unglazed terracotta pots may be the ubiquitous planters of your youth but rarely do they give a seedling or sapling a fighting chance—unglazed terracotta is notorious for allowing moisture to seep out. While you can remedy this with clockwork watering, a plethora of other planters, from cement planters to fiberglass, beckon.

With planters, just like with rugs, going bigger is always better. A larger planter means more soil, which in turn gives a plant’s roots the opportunity to expand. While we’re on the subject: Choose plants that are destined to stay small. Opting for a plant that will grow too large will inevitably have you re-potting in no time. If you truly have your heart set on raising a Meyer lemon tree or showpiece-caliber hydrangea, do some groundwork first and call around to nurseries that specialize in dwarf versions.

Lastly, and perhaps most pertinently, heed the importance of a drainage hole. While it can be tempting to unceremoniously drop a grocery store-bought herb into a pint-sized pot sans drainage hole you’ll soon be reaping the repercussions: namely, a plant suffering from rot. Treat drainage holes as a matter of necessity, not recommendation, especially when looking to invest in large planters that will hold pricey statement plants. If you do fall in love with a planter, say, a Mediterranean planter or Chinese planter pot, that doesn’t have a hole, a local plant shop (or masonry yard) can likely drill one for you.