Tall Plants?

LuvMyBoyz · ‎03-10-2010

Hello!

I'm new to buying plants this year and don't know much. I'm hoping someone can help. I just bought 2 beautiful flowering plants to put on 2 different tree stumps outside. They are about 4 feet tall, though, and I'm worried that they will tip over when there is anything stronger than a breeze (it's an 8 inch base). Do you think a heavy flower pot will take care of the issue? Or do you think I need to put some sort of stone/brick around the base? Any suggestions you have are much appreciated. Thanks for reading. Take care and be well.

esmeraldagooch · ‎03-10-2010

I put a brick in the planter on top of the dirt. It has helped.

Sweetbay magnolia · ‎04-14-2013

Try a dumbbell weight in the bottom of the pot (like lifters use, the interchangeable ones), if you can. Some situations are just too windy, though, and some plants just carry the wind like a sail, so I've always had to pay attention to the overall picture. Having worked in nurseries for years I can tell you we hated wind; the entire tree and shrub section would blow over and require work to set it back up - only to blow over again. Sometimes we'd just leave them down until the storm had passed and it always shocked customers, like we were intentionally harming the plants. However, repeated knockings were worse than once down, then up with the calm, which was preferable.

An 8" pot is pretty small, too - it will dry out and boy oh boy they will fly away with the wind. Use a hearty potting mixture in a larger pot and pay attention to the dynamics of the situation closely.

Cogito ergo sum

chickadee · ‎10-29-2010

Can you secure the pot to the stump before putting the plants inside? If you want to be able to move them, you can have an outer pot, then have the plants in a separate pot and place the whole thing inside the larger setup.

I mention this because I had a problem with my potted plants getting up and walking away. I live in a sketchy neighborhood, and things like that happen. My solar lights took flight and I suspect now live a couple blocks away, but I can't prove they are mine.

ANYWAY, to make my pots a bit more difficult to steal, I drilled a hole in the bottom of them, and then inserted one of those spiral tie out stakes (the kind you use to secure a dog lead in the ground). Then I put in the soil and my plants. It's kind of a pain in the rear since I can't move them easily, but neither can the thieves. The wind hasn't knocked them over, either.

If you can't attach the actual pot to the stump, can you build some sort of platform (with sides to hold the planter) that secures to the stump?