Planters Trees

Cleaned up the front on my house and repotted some trees. How does it look?

Left Front (Pink Guava Tree)

Left Middle (Avocado Tree)

Left Far (Peach Tree)

Behind the bricks and to the right are from cuttings

Papaya Tree

Bottom Left (Iris Flower)

 

Kumquat (Kinkan) Tree

Mikan Tree

My Next Planter Project

I'm planning to build a few more raised planters for the back of my house. I do not have any special design tools, so I used PowerPoint. Forgive my crudeness. 

This planter is a bit narrow, but designed for a specific location with limited space. I plan to plant Kiwi or Passion Fruit in this planter, hence the trellis. Will use some cords initially to help it climb. Also, folks may ask why there is no bottom. Well, I will sit it on the ground and fill it with dirt, so no need for a bottom. 

I had some leftover plywood from Planter 1, so decided to make this. Not sure where or how to use it yet. Shoot, I may even use it as a stool.

This is the plywood cutting pattern. I plan out every cut to ensure I do not waste any material. If I can visualize the material, I can make adjustments to my design to minimize waste. 

I draw how to cut each beam to maximize its use. It is also important to consider the width of your cutting blade, because one small cut may not make a big difference, but many small cuts in a row will add up. The dotted blue lines are where I will cut the beam. 

I usually make a materials list. This helps me determine if I will have enough space to transport the material, as well as help me gain a rough idea on how much this project will cost. 

Planter

Today I made this planter. It is a simple 90 cm (35.4 inches) square with no top or bottom. The soil on my property it poor and primarily consists of sticky clay, so I'm gravitating towards raised planters, not to mention it is a more comfortable way to garden. Additionally, raised planters drain well and make it harder for pests to get to your plants.

Now this is a deep planter and you may be wondering how I will fill it all. There is a technique call, hugelkultur. by which you fill the bottom portion of the planter with waste organic matter, like tree trunks, branches, leaves and the like. Most plants only use about 30 cm (12 inches) of soil, so you can fill your planter with refuse organic material and the top 30 cm with high quality soil for planting. The organic refuse material will eventually break down and create a great home for worms and good microbes.

I moved the planter to the back and need to clear an area for it. I have a large growth of Shell Ginger (Getto) to the right of the box that I think I’ll clear for the planter. I’ll dig up the Ginger and keep some, but this is an extreme hardy plant and difficult to kill. I will post about Shell Ginger in a separate post.

I lined the inside with a plastic liner and stapled it down. The planter is made of wood so it will eventually rot, but the stain and inside liner should give me a few extra years of use.