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This planter was the first and will always have a special place in my mind... I planned it's shape out carefully after having drawn multiple patterns over and over again. Actually starting the planters at all was just a pipe dream I thought, but my girl friend got me actually get going on it.. and she came up with the final design of the yard- much better than any of mine. We didnt' stick with her plans exactly, but they worked as a good template over the next year.
This planter, like all the ones to follow, was built 3 boards high- the boards being 6" wide (actually 5 1/2") and 1" thick treated lumber (green from copper treatment) pine. I really don't know how long these will last, but I made the same sorts of retaining walls in TO, only those were really true retaining walls, holding up hillsides. These were just holding in potting soil on a flat surface. So the hope is these will last at least as long, if not twice as long as the ones in TO (which were lasting about 10+ years by the time I left). But just in case these DIDn't last that long, I decided to screw the boards to the outside of the post (unlike in TO where i always put them insdie the posts... that way there was more than just screws holding up all that mud, but the boards themselves were between the dirt and the thick fence posts). This means only the screws are holding inthe potting soil- nothing else. However, should a board rot, replacing it will be a LOT easier- won't require digging out half the planter box at is would if I needed to put the boards on the inside. This technique also gave me that much more room inside the planters. Hope that works out.
Ideally, in the distant future, I would like to replace all the wood with rock or something more permanent.
This first planter was filled with many many bags of whatever there was at Home Depot... manure, potting soil, cactus soil, peat, mulch etc.... But still each bag seemed to go nowhere, so I also used a bunch of leaf mulch from the shedding Magnolia tree out front. In retrospect that was NOT a good idea, even though it may have been a great source of nutrients in the long run... as the leaf mulch rotted, it sank... which I expected it would to some degree, but not as much as it actually did. I replaced the soil in one of that planter in the fall, and still it needs to be done again. However, ALL the planters really need refillling, so maybe the leaves weren't as stupid I as I thought.
Entries and Updates
Nov 18, 2004
This is what the back yard looked like in the area of planter one when we bought the place... a clean slate.
Apr 12, 2005
I guess I didn't get started on this planter until April 05. I have no pics of it empty or the building process. This is when I first started to plant it.
Apr 13, 2005
Close up of the first plants in the planters...
Apr 18, 2005
Another view of south end of this planter mid April 05
Apr 25, 2005
A bit later in the month, planter is 'full' (though there was a lot more to be put in it eventually... but all small stuff). Notice the rebar put in... this was a brainstorm by my girl friend to help keep the dogs from jumping in (turns out 3 boards just wasn't high enough, and really I should have made the planters 4 boards high... but the extra cost seemed to much at the time). Turns out the rebar also adds a nice rustic touch.
At this time, planter 2 was getting started.
Apr 26, 2005
Here is the 'completed' planter, with planter 2 next door getting underway. The little posts in the ground were to help remind me where the next planters were going, so I didn't get messed up, or make something too close to something else. Later on I tossed all those sticks and string out since I tripped over them 100+ times, and we ended up changing a lot of things.
May 18, 2005
Some of plants in planter the following month (may 05). But the main thing this shows is the 'new' addendum to planter 1 (called planter 0.5) nearer the telephone pole. This planter was made partly to house the bougainvillea, and partly to make and excuse for putting up more privacy lattice. Not much is planted in this planter (few odds and ends) to this day (2-06).
Aug 15, 2005
Here's a shot before replanting
Aug 18, 2005
This is a view of the east end of the planter after having emptied the cacti out of it, and refilling it with another 6"-8" of potting soil, then topping off with scoria. Looks nice... but the planter soil still sank another 5" later on...
Nov 18, 2005
Things getting bushy in November 05... and the Hebe planted in front actually probably should have been plnated at ground level, not in cement blocks.
Jan 16, 2006
Here's a shot of some of the plants and sizes first of the year 2006
Feb 18, 2006
Here is a shot of some of the cacti in planter 1 in winter (2-06)
