Sometimes that gorgeous glazed pot might not be the best choice for your yard. It looks great, yes, and your plants look great in it, but you can’t move it when you realize it’s getting improper sunlight, or if you want to bring it inside for the winter. While you can certainly call a friend over to help, it can be a hassle and a bit embarrassing. Why not try these three tips to lighten those heavy gardening pots, so you won’t have to worry about the weight of it as much?
Tip #1: Make Better Drainage
The easiest way to lighten up your pot is to make a bit more space inside! Soil can be heavy, so mixing in other mediums can help air it out, make better water drainage for the plant, and make the pot a little lighter for you. Some great advice is mixing package peanuts into the soil. There isn’t much actual research done on how the packing peanuts affect the plant, but they are certainly much lighter, and help separate the soil enough so that it doesn’t pack together too tightly for water to pass through. Another option is to add something in the bottom to take up more space.
You can add shards of terra cotta, broken ceramic pots, decorative rocks or pebbles, or nut shells. However, some of them can get pretty heavy on their own. That’s why some gardeners use their leftover temporary pots from the nursery. These plastic pots aren’t meant to last long enough to support a plant, and are usually thrown away. Why not smash them down and line the bottom of your pot with them? It takes up space, is lightweight, and does provide better drainage.
Tip #2: Make An Illusion
Sometimes a tiny strawberry plant isn’t going to fill up that giant gorgeous ceramic pot you have, but you really want it, because it completes your patio’s look. What you can do is use the pot within a pot technique! Get a simple smaller pot for your plant and use that, and then place it in your bigger pot. If necessary, use another pot or a piece of wood to provide a stand so that your plant looks like it’s in your large ceramic planter. This illusion makes things look great, makes you use less soil, and makes moving plants and pots around much easier.
Tip #3: Buy Your Solution
There are plenty of solutions that you can purchase at the nursery or home improvement store. There is a plate that you can add to the pot that will create a space at the bottom, and will raise the soil and the root ball of the plant up without you having to fill up to half of the pot with soil that will not be used and just weigh down the plant. There are also options that you can purchase that will provide drainage in the soil, or at the bottom of the plant. Some of these are specifically made to help lighten the pot, such as “Packing Pearls.” These can all be easily purchased, and will definitely lighten your load.
